


All I Know Is That I Don't

by PinkEasterEggs



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bullying, Dark Peter Parker, Derogatory Language, Homophobic Language, Hurt Peter, Hurt Peter Parker, Hydra (Marvel), Kidnapped Peter Parker, Kidnapping, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Minor Swearing, Minor Violence, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Temporary Amnesia, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-01-16 03:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18512749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkEasterEggs/pseuds/PinkEasterEggs
Summary: Peter Parker has been kidnapped for a year when he suddenly stumbles into a Police Department with little to no memory of where he's been or who took him. With the task of looking after the kid resting solely on Tony's shoulders, he's just glad that Peter is back safe and sound.But nothing is ever as it seems and trouble brews quickly.





	1. Found

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick run through to make things clear:
> 
> -The Avengers made up after Civil War and Bucky is in Wakanda getting his mind-control wiped away
> 
> -This is set after Homecoming so Tony and Peter have grown close 
> 
> -Before Peter's abduction, Tony and Peter were really close (like father and son)
> 
> -Peter was 15 when abducted and as its been a year he's now 16 
> 
> -The Avengers switch between using the Compound and the Tower but as it's more practical to Peter, they use the Tower most of the time (Tony brought it back or something)
> 
> Enjoy :)))

Peter Parker trudges through the busy streets of New York, his head hanging low and his arms wrapped around himself, trying to warm himself up. It was nearing minus degrees in the cold city and he could feel every sharp wind as the teeth-chattering gust of air blew into him. He knew he looked a mess yet as per New York attitude, no one seemed to care.

Blood caked the side of his face, his hair matted and covered in mud. There were cuts on his face and bruises dotting around his neck and arms. He was dressed in a black formfitting top with matching black trousers, no coat or shoes to save him from the cold. He shivered violently with each step, feeling like he was swimming in a frozen lake. 

The cut on his lip throbbed as he licked his chapped bottom lip. After what seemed like hours, he finally made it to the police precinct. He’d been looking for the nearest one for ages, walking in circles as he tried to locate it. He’d hoped maybe someone would see him looking lost and offer to help but like usual, no one paid him any mind.

The police station was warm and immediately Peter wanted to curl up into a ball here and never leave. He calmly walked over to an officer sitting at the desk and waited patiently for them to look up.

The officer did a double take as they took in the sight of a seriously beat up and freezing teenage boy. Peter tried to control his shaking but it seemed impossible given he was just so damn cold.

“H-hi,” he gave the officer a short wave. “M-my name is Peter P-Parker and i went missing a year ago. Can y-you please phone my A-Aunt?”

“Shit,” the officer mumbled, jumping up from where they sat at their desk and rushing to Peter’s side. They caught him just in time for his knees to give way, his mind going blank before he even sunk into the officer’s arms.

———————————————

Tony stared at the 3D copy of his new Mark L armour, one hand twisting the copy on the screen around as the other held his lukewarm coffee. It tasted rather foul but he still took large swigs anyway, ignoring how uncomfortable the feeling of cold liquid running down his throat felt. He had currently been awake for more than 27 hours so he decided that bitter, cold coffee was better than falling face first into his work station.

“Boss, incoming call from the New York City Police Department 109th Precinct.” FRIDAY called out.

Tony almost balked, setting his now empty mug of coffee down as he frowned. “Uh, did i mishear you FRI?”

“If you heard me saying the NYC Police Department was calling then no Boss, you heard correctly.”

“Okay and why are they phoning me?” Tony frowned, turning back to his new suit.

“You would find out if you answered Boss,” FRIDAY spoke up, sounding as sassy as a computerised non-physical robot could. Tony rolled his eyes, wondering why he decided to put in code to give his AI a personality.

“Alright baby girl, calm down. Answer the call.”

“Hello, is this Mr Stark?” A woman’s voice came through his speakers less than a second later. She sounded rather frantic and Tony was immediately put on edge. It was only 5 minutes past 5 so it wasn’t like it was an hour when all calls from a Police Department were bad. If he’d received this call at 3am, he would’ve been far more concerned than he was now.

“This is he, who is speaking.”

“My name is Officer Renalds sir and we have a serious situation occurring at our precinct. You are listed as the Emergency Contact for a Peter Parker, that is correct sir?”

Tony immediately tensed up, his eyes roaming over the framed picture of him and Peter sitting on his desk. Every nerve in his body was suddenly screaming at him, his fingers tingling with either fear or anticipation. Tony wasn’t sure. He hadn’t seen Peter in just over a year, the anniversary for his kidnapping having just passed the previous month. 

“Yes, yes i am. Is there any new leads??” Tony refrained from yelling as he stood up and began to pace the space of his lab. It felt like an eternity before the officer spoke again.

Please don’t say he’s dead, Tony begged. Please don’t say you found a body. Please, please, please.

“We have a Peter Parker in custody sir,” even the woman sounded bewildered as she told Tony. “The DNA matches sir. We have him here at Queens Hospital.”

Tony’s brain short circuited. For over a year he’d imagined what it would be like when Peter came back (because no matter what anyone said, he refused to give up hope that the kid would come back). He’d dreamt of Peter being found in someone’s basement, alive but scarred. He’d dreamt of Peter being found in some warm country, happy and carefree. He’d once dreamt of Peter being found dead, the body decomposed and broken.  
He hadn’t slept in a week after that.

But when the actual time came that he received the call saying the kid was found, Tony didn’t know what to do. What was he meant to do?

So he trusted his instincts. “I’m on my way.”

————————————

When Peter had come to, he’d been changed into a white hospital robe with an IV stuck in his arm. The nurse in his room had held his hand gently, softly telling him that he was safe and well looked after here. She’d sat with him for half an hour, trying to calm him down before giving him a sad smile and moving to another patient.

Twenty minutes after she left, Peter heard a knock at his door and two police officers walked in. One was a woman with dark skin and her hair tied up into an immaculate bun. She looked confused but curious as she watched Peter. The man next to her had white skin and a frown on his face, obviously more wary than his partner.

“Hello Peter, i’m Officer Renalds and this is my partner, Officer-“

“Smith,” the man cut in, crossing his arms in an intimidating way.

“We’re here to ask you a few questions,” Officer Renalds looked sad as she spoke to him. “Do you remember how you got here?”

“What like here as in the hospital?” Peter frowned, twiddling with his thin hospital sheets.

“Here as in anywhere,” Officer Renalds didn’t clear it up. “What happened to you Peter?”

“I was kidnapped,” Peter shrugged. “I don’t— i don’t remember much. I just k-know that they threw me into a van yesterday and dumped me somewhere in Queens a few hours ago. And i w-walked to the Police Department afterwards.”

“Do you know who took you?” The man asked, tone uncaring.

Peter shook his head, tears popping into his eyes. “No sir, i don’t.”

“You were gone for a year Peter with no leads or any clues. You never saw your abductors face?” Officer Renalds frowned.

“I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember your abductors?” Officer Smith narrowed his eyes. 

“I’m sorry, i- i don’t know what they did!” Peter’s voice hitched up as he looked between the pair with tears in his eyes. “I just don’t remember.”

Officer Smith was about to reply when there was a sudden commotion outside Peter’s room. It sounded like someone yelling and arguing with the nurses, their voice getting closer to the door until the occupants could hear the clear voice of a man say: “Try and stop me again and i will sue you so hard that your grandchildren will still be paying the fines.”

The door to Peter’s room opened and there stood Tony Stark, dressed in jeans and a casual top, his hair a mess and dark bags under his eyes. Tony stared at the two officers at the end of Peter’s bed before his eyes made contact with Peter. A heaviness to Tony’s features lifted when he saw Peter.

“Kid,” Tony breathed, as if he didn’t believe it was true. 

“Mr Stark!” Peter yelled, tears falling down his face as he watched his mentor from across the room. It was as if Peter’s voice broke Tony out of his trance for he suddenly bolted over to the kid’s bed, hands trembling as they reached out for Peter’s face.

The floodgates released from Peter when Tony tentatively cupped his cheek, thumbs brushing circles around his cheeks, just marvelling at the feel of the kid’s skin under his fingers. A year ago, he never would’ve understood this physical need to touch Peter to make sure he was real but after the kid being gone for an entire year, Tony said hell to boundaries as he embraced the boy he’d so seriously missed.

“Oh God Pete,” he choked as the teenage boy sobbed into his shoulder. Tony held on tight, feeling tears of his own leak from his eyes. “I’ve missed you so much kiddo.”

“I missed you too Mr Stark,” Peter hiccuped. 

“Never do that to me again,” Tony whispered, kissing Peter’s temple. After Homecoming, him and Peter had grown closer. In the months leading up to Peter’s abduction, Tony had started to see the boy as if he was his own. With Peter coming over several times a week to work in his labs, even staying for dinner and sleeping over occasionally, Tony had found himself beginning to love the boy and see him as family. 

When Peter had gone missing, it had broken Tony. He’d poured money into Private Investigators and sent out Iron Man tech to aid the police in the search for his kid. They waited for months for a ransom video or email before the motion of kidnap as a means of revenge or ransom was ruled out.

It was like Peter just dropped off the face of the Earth. He’d been with Tony one afternoon working in the lab, then May had picked him up and CRASH, Peter was gone. Lost. 

“Never leave me again,” Peter sobbed, his hands fisting in Tony’s shirt. The words broke Tony; on the outside he’d never left Peter. Every suit design and new tech was made to help find his kid. The Avengers never rested, spending hours at a time just scanning over the city in case there was more news. They went undercover in the black market in case any criminal had information regarding a lost young boy. 

But to Peter, he’d been abandoned. Tony had promised to always be there but when Peter needed him most, Tony had been no where to be found. He’d failed at finding Peter.

“I promise i never will,” Tony mumbled into his hair, ignoring the smell of blood that seemed to waft off it. He didn’t care what the kid smelt like as long as he was in his arms.

“I lost you once kiddo, i’m never letting you go again.”

Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s temple, vowing to himself that he would rather die than lose Peter Parker again. Tony closed his eyes as he revelled in the feeling of holding his kid; God, he refused to mess up again this time.


	2. Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo so i was dumb af basically i didn't lay out the story format like it would have multiple chapters so sorry to everyone who thought the story was over. There are many more chapters to come dw :))
> 
> Enjoy :))

“You simply remember nothing?” Fury questioned Peter, his one good eye looking at the teenager with complete disbelief. “Not one single fact?”

Peter shook his head, swallowing hard. After Tony had told the Police Officers to buzz off, he’d transferred Peter to the Compound’s Medical facility where Peter’s re-emergence became official SHEILD business. Fury had been grilling him for the better part of 40 minutes to try and find out what had happened during the year Peter had been gone.

“I remember being scared,” Peter admitted, his voice small and his hand squeezing Tony’s tightly. The man sat on the edge of Peter’s bed, refusing to be separated even an inch. 

“Do you remember how you were taken?” Fury frowned.

Peter paused, thinking back. “I— I was with May, we were driving back home from the Compound. Then there with this blinding light on May’s side— she s-screamed and then it all goes black.”

Tony ran his hands through Peter’s hair. “You were in a car crash bud,” he speaks softly. “The driver was drunk and he ran a red light.”

“May is— is she alright?” Peter’s eyes filled with tears as he looked between Fury and Tony. The former looked at the man holding Peter’s hand like it was his job to deliver the news.

“May died on impact kid, i’m so sorry.”

Tears rolled down Peter’s face, his breathing hitching as the sorrow hit him. Subconsciously, he’d already known but with Tony and Fury watching, Peter allowed the tears to flow. “What does that h-have to do with my ab-abduction?” 

“You weren’t at the crime scene, Mr Parker,” Fury spoke the fact, gaining a glare from Tony as he wrapped his arms around Peter’s frail body. “After the crash, you fell off the face of the Earth.”

“Didn’t you have any clues?” Peter frowned. “How could i have just gone missing?” The tears still ran down his face as he sniffled, leaning in to Tony.

“That’s what we are asking you Mr Parker,” Fury gave him a look. “But you seem to remember nothing.”

“Fury!” Tony snapped, arms tightening around Peter’s frame. “The kid just came back, give him some time to adjust before you start treating him like an interrogation victim.”

“I just want the answers Stark,” Fury spoke as if it were simple.

“I’m trying!” Peter sobbed, his voice breaking. “I-I am! I just don’t remember. Its like blank spots. I remember bits of the crash and waking up on the street before finding the closest Police Department— that’s it. The rest of the year is a blur.”

“You never saw your kidnapper’s faces?” Fury cleared up.

Peter shrugged, wiping away his tears. “Not that i remember.”

“Did they wear any memorable masks?”

“Not that i remember.”

“What did they want with you?”

“Nothing i can remember.”

“You stumbled into that precinct with blood all over your face and bruises littering nearly every inch of your body. You trying to tell me that you have no recollection how you got those injuries?”

“Please, i’ve told you all i know!”

“The thing is Mr Parker, all you know ain’t shit!”

“Fury!” Tony called out again. “For God sake, he’s a kid! A scared kid, give him time to breathe!” 

“We need to know the details soon if we are to attempt at apprehending the people who took him, Stark,” Fury argued.

“He just got back,” Tony hissed. “Let him enjoy being back before you push him into the emotional trauma of trying to remember his kidnappers.”

Peter sighed, snuggling in more to Tony’s side as Fury eventually left the room. “Mr Stark, am i in trouble?” 

“What? No Pete, of course not,” Tony let his fingers roam the kid’s scalp, brushing his curls around. 

“Really?” Peter wasn’t convinced. “Because everyone seems mad that i don’t remember.”

“They’re just worried,” Tony sighed. “You were gone for a long time, it’s kinda scary you don’t remember anything kiddo.”

“If i remember i promise to tell you,” Peter mumbled into Tony’s chest.

“I don’t doubt you would.”

They stayed like that for a long while, just hugging and staying close to each other when Peter lifted his head again and looked up at Tony. “Mr Stark, where are the others?”

“What you mean, kiddo?”

“Well, where’s Steve and Nat? How come Rhodey isn’t here? Did Sam and Clint not want to see me? I missed Pepper and Happy so much too, why haven’t they come? And Bruce? Is Thor around?”

Tony kept his hand moving through Peter’s hair. “Thor’s been on Asgard all year, he never even knew you were gone buddy. But the others have missed you so much Pete. We never stopped trying to find you.”

“Where are they?”

“We thought it would be good to give you some space so you could clear your head before they all barge in.”

Tears formed in Peter’s eyes again. “Please Mr Stark, i really want to see them. I missed them all so much.”

“You feel ready?”

Peter nodded, making Tony sigh. He tilted his head up to the ceiling and spoke to FRIDAY. “You heard him baby girl, invite the Avengers in.”

He turned to Peter, still keeping his hands wrapped tight around his body like he was afraid if he left go, Peter would vanish again. “Pepper’s out of town with Happy for a conference but they’re on their way back. If this gets to much, just say and everyone will leave. They won’t be mad.”

Peter nodded, his eyes fixed on the door. After what felt like ages, the door opened and in walked his old team, looks of worry and relief ranging across their faces. They were all dressed casually, staring at Peter like he was a miracle in the works.

“Kid,” Clint smiled walking to Peter’s other side and ruffling his hair. 

“Oi Barton, be gentle,” Tony rolled his eyes. “The precious cargo is still healing.”

“How are you feeling Peter?” Steve stood at the end of his bed, a look of worry written all over him.

Peter nodded “Better now, thanks.”

“Fury says you remember nothing,” Natasha stood beside Steve, her hands in her pockets.

“Nat, let’s not interrogate the kid again,” Tony sighed.

Rhodey walked forward to stand beside Clint, he placed the back of his hand against Peter’s cheek and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re back Pete, we missed you.”

Tears formed in Peter’s eyes again. “I missed you too,” he spoke around the lump in his throat. “Mr Stark says you never stopped looking for me. Thank you.”

Sam shrugged his shoulders in a ‘what you gonna do’ way. “How could we just forget a little asshole like you?” A few of the others turned and glared at the man but Peter just smiled. It felt like old times. 

“Sam, that’s not funny,” Wanda growled, her accent thicker with emotions as she latched onto Vision’s side. Peter stared between the two wondering how much he’d missed in the last year.

“Helen says that you’re perfectly healthy Peter,” Bruce spoke up as he looked over Peter’s charts. “No signs of trauma or assault.”

“Bruce,” Tony hissed when everyone went silent. Peter shrunk back in Tony’s grip.

“What?” Bruce looked around at the others, confused. “That’s a good thing!”

“Maybe don’t say it in front of the kid,” Natasha suggested with a frown. 

“Oh, uh sorry Peter,” Bruce cringed.

Clint cleared his throat, ruffling Peter’s hair again despite Tony’s glare. “What trouble you going to get into now you’re back kid?”

“Clint, let’s not-“ Tony started to say before Peter cut over him.

“I just want to go back to my usual routine.”

“Peter, you just got back-“

“Which is exactly why i need my old routine back. Mr Stark please, i don’t want this to define me in some way. I just want things to go back to how it was so i can try and move on.”

Tony sighed, resting his head on top of Peter’s crown. The rest of the Avengers looked away at the obviously intimate moment; it wasn’t forgotten how much Tony had missed the kid. Whilst all of the Avengers had been torn over the kidnapping of their youngest half-member, Tony had been the most devastated. They were just happing that the ending of this story involved Peter, safe, in Tony’s arms.

“Fine, kid, you can go back to your usual routine. But no Spider-Man.”

“But Mr Stark-“

“No arguing Pete, i’m serious. Spider-Man is benched until i say so. I just got back you back i won’t risk losing you again.”

Peter nodded numbly, his head resting in Tony’s neck. “Okay.”

“We’ll leave you two for a while,” Steve smiled at the pair, patting one of Peter’s feet. “Glad to have you back Pete.”

“Bye,” Peter whispered, waving at the Avengers as they all left.

“Can’t wait to have a new bunkmate,” Clint smirked as Peter before he left.

Peter frowned and turned to Tony just in time to catch the man roll his eyes. “Mr Stark, what does Clint mean?”

Tony cleared his throat, looking down at Peter with a slight nervous expression. “Well kid, with your Aunt. . . I was wondering if you would want to stay here and live with us. On my floor, of course. Clint was just teasing. Would that, er, be alright?”

Peter smiled at his mentor. “Yes please. Mr Stark, i really appreciate you being here and helping me. With M-May gone n-now and the kidnapping . . . I really need you.”

Tony tucked Peter back into his grip, resting his forehead on Peter’s crown again. “Good because i’m not going anywhere. You’re my kid, kid.”

Tony sighed as he held Peter. He thanked every God out there that his kid was safely back in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also sorry about May i kill her off a lot in my stories whoops ://


	3. First Day Back

“Hit him again,” the gruff voice spat in Peter’s direction. He could hear the sound of heavy boots thudding against the floor as the angry man paced. “Upside the head this time. I want to see blood.”

The feeling of a fist repeatedly hitting his skull forced a grown out of Peter’s mouth as he felt a flow of blood run down his face. The fist uncurled itself, instead wiping the blood over Peter’s face so it was caked in his hair and eventually dried up on his cheek. The smell of his blood burned his nose, making Peter feel sick.

“That will do,” the gruff voice said so the hand paused. “Would you look at him?” The angry man seemed to tease and Peter was sure if he looked up there would be a smile on his ugly face. “He’s finally ready.”

The hand struck out once more to slap his cheek, the hit making his neck snap to the side and cause his cheek to sting. He spat a mouthful of saliva out as the cut on his lip dribbled down his chin. 

“I said that was enough!” The gruff voice yelled, the sound of a slap ringing through Peter’s brain. The absence of pain on his face meant that it was the owner of the hand who’d been hit. He almost smirked at the irony.

“Throw him into the van,” the gruff voice sounded further away as his stomping boots echoed down the corridor.

“Throw him into the van.”

“Throw him into the van.”

“Throw him into the van.” 

 

The words still echoed around his head as Peter sat upright in his bed, breathing erratic. He looked around the room he was in, panicking when he didn’t recognise it. The bed was softer than the hospital one and the room was painted a light blue. Multiple posters of Star Wars movies lined the walls and there were a few Spider-Man merch decorated around on shelves. 

Peter swallowed hard as he blinked, taking in the space around him. His chest heaved up and down in fast succession and for one brief second, he thought he was going to hurl.

“Throw him into the van,” still danced around his mind, the gruff voice forever ingrained into his skull. He placed a hand over his heart, willing the crazily beating organ to calm down. Peter’s head felt fuzzy as he slowly lowered his body back down to the bed. His sheets and pyjamas were covered in sweat, making him gag as the smell reached his nose. 

“Peter?” A voice called out, the door to his room opening slowly. “You awake, bud?” Tony stood in the doorway, a glass of water in one hand as the other rubbed his face with a yawn.

“Mr Stark?” Peter felt his heart rate calm down as he looked at the man walking into his room. Tony placed the cup of water down on Peter’s side before walking around the bed to the unoccupied side. He climbed in all the while oblivious to Peter’s frantic stare. 

“You okay kiddo?” Tony frowned when he finally saw Peter’s face. The wide eyes and ashen features were a silent giveaway that something was wrong.

Peter shook his head, swallowing slowly. “J-just a bad dream.”

“Did you remember anything.”

“No,” Peter lied. “Where am i?”

“You’re in your room Pete,” Tony ran a hand through Peter’s sweaty curls. “I know you only used it on a few occasions before . . . you know. But this has always been your room. If you don’t like it i can move you somewhere else or we can decorate it differently?”

“No— no, it’s perfect Mr Stark. Really!”

Tony smiled sadly at Peter, pulling the kid into his side. “Enough with the Mr Stark kiddo. You can call me Tony.”

Peter nodded, yawning loudly. “Okay Tony.” 

Tony lowered his body down to lay on the bed properly, turning the pillow over so Peter wasn’t laying in his own sweat. “Go to sleep kid, you got school in the morning.”

Despite himself, Peter was asleep before Tony could even lay down himself.

———————————

To the Avengers, Peter Parker had been missing for an entire year. With no idea if the abduction of Peter was Spider-Man related or not, they’d kept the entire kidnapping ordeal under wraps. 

To the rest of the world (or at least those who cared), Peter had spent the year elsewhere after the death of his Aunt. Where, exactly, wasn’t pinpointed but the belief was spread that he was staying with distant family. It helped control the panic that the Avengers felt every day for over 365 days.

Peter was glad his abduction was kept a secret for walking back into his school hallway on Monday morning, recently re-enrolled and feeling like the new kid, it made all his peers stares and mumblings far more innocent. No one talked about how he’d been taken. No one talked about him stumbling into a Police station with no memory of what had happened.

They just nudged their friends arm and mumbled that Peter was back. It was liberating really, to know that his story was kept a secret.

“Peter?” A yell came from down the corridor. Peter whirled around just in time to see an Asian kid slam into him, knocking the air out of him as the kid squeezed him tight.

“Peter!” The kid, Ned, pulls back from the hug to give Peter a suprised and happy expression. “You’re back! Dude, what the hell happened?? You were just— poof— gone for a year! I called and texted and you never picked up! Where the heck were you Peter?”

Peter scratched the back of his head. Ned was still rambling his worries, drawing more questioning gazes. “Ned,” Peter cut his friend off. “I’m sorry, i was busy.”

“Busy?” Ned frowned. “For a whole year?”

“M-May died,” Peter mumbled. “I was a bit preoccupied.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie.

“Oh Peter i heard, i’m so sorry,” Ned looked sad. “Dude i missed you so much!”

Peter cracked a small smile. “I missed you too Ned. So much.”

“I’m so glad your back,” Ned started rambling about all that Peter had missed, completing believing the lie about Peter moving away to stay with foreign family. He told Peter about how well the Academic Decathlon was doing and how Michele (who went by MJ now) had owned Flash two practices ago and the bully had gone so red Ned had photoshopped his face on a tomato later that night. He told Peter about how he and Betty had gotten closer lately and how their History teacher was fired last term for swearing at a student.

“So how come you’re back?” Ned asked as they walked to class. Peter relished in this feeling of normal as they headed to double Chemistry. “Not that i’m super liked of course!”

“Oh,” Peter frowned. “Well my distant relatives and i had a falling out so we decided it was better for me to move back home.” 

It wasn’t like Peter wanted to lie to his best friend but he didn’t exactly want to expose the truth to him. Not yet, anyway. If he told Ned then the kid wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut about it. And he didn’t wanna see the look of pity in Ned’s eyes.

Ned frowned, nodding slowly. “Who’re you staying with then? Because i can ask my mum if you can move in with us, she might not like it but i don’t think she’d say no!”

“Thanks Ned,” Peter smirked as they sat in their usual seats for Chemistry. This was what Peter liked: routine and order. Everything back to how it had been. “But i’m, uh, actually staying with Tony.”

Ned’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Peter, did you just say that you’re living with THE Tony Stark?!”

Peter laughed softly as the teacher walked in, shh-ing his friend. “Yeah, yeah but don’t tell anyone.”

“Dude, this is the coolest thing to ever happen!”

He frowned slightly, looking at his hands. Peter didn’t think it was actually that cool: a year ago he would’ve freaked out that he was living with Tony Stark with the Avengers a floor below him. But the events for him getting here were far darker and twisted to make anything about this situation cool. But Ned didn’t know that so Peter just nodded his head slowly and answered his friend’s questions under his breath as their teacher began to talk.

“Have you seen Captain America in his pyjamas?”

“What? No.”

“Has Captain America seen YOU in your pyjamas?” 

“No.”

“Has Vision walked through your walls without knocking?”

“Not yet but Tony says there’s a high chance he might.”

“Have you met Thor?”

“He’s still in Asgard.”

“Has Bruce Banner Hulked out yet?”

“Dude no! And if he did, he’d probably kill me!”

“Have you-“

“Ned,” Peter hissed, rolling his eyes. “I came back like 2 days ago, this is just as new to me as it is you.”

“Mr Parker, Mr Leeds, something more interesting than covalent bonds?”

Peter whipped his head towards the teacher, shaking his head quickly. “Sorry no.”

“It’s good to have you back Mr Parker,” the teacher pointed a pen at him. “But lets not tarnish your perfect record on the first day of your re-enrolment.”

Peter nodded, picking up his pen and scribbling notes as he ignored Ned’s attempts to catch his attention. He felt the warning shoot up his spine before a scrunched up piece of paper was thrown at the back of his head. Peter had to clench his teeth together to avoid ducking out of instinct.

He made sure the teacher was looking away before turning around to stare at Flash, the bully sporting a shit-eating grin. “Sup Penis,” Flash mouthed to him. “I see your back.”

Peter rolled his eyes, turning back to his notes when he felt another prickle run up his spine. He clenched his fists as another ball of paper hit him squarely at the back of his head. Refusing to turn around and let the bully win, Peter attempted to ignore him.

All chances of ignoring Flash flew out his brain when the third ball of paper hit him. His teacher was droning on about something he already knew so he ripped out a page of his own notebook, scribbled a note and threw it over his shoulder, knowing it would land perfectly on Flash’s desk.

‘You want to get lost?’ The paper read.

Flash’s reply came two minutes later, this time with Peter catching the scrunched up ball of paper rather than let it hit him. He ignored Flash’s look of awe as he caught something Penis Parker never could.

‘Wanna make me Penis?’ Flash had scribbled, making Peter roll his eyes again. He scribbled a reply, throwing the paper back and clenching his hands together to try and dull the anger coursing over him. Peter wasn’t sure why Flash so easily triggered his anger now but he couldn’t wait to release it.

‘Sure, meet me in the boys changing room after this lesson’ his note had read. Peter watched as the clock counted down before sprinting out of his seat without a “see you at lunch Ned”.

The changing rooms were empty when Peter walked in, throwing his book bag down on the floor and pacing around the small space. His fingers were twitching and Peter tried to shake his head to clear the red out of vision. Everything in him buzzed with anger; Flash had lit the rope that was about to explode his bomb.

Peter Parker a year ago would’ve taken the teasing words and annoying grin, pushing past each day to not let his bully win. He never stood up for himself.

Peter Parker of now was different. There was a fierceness in the way he clenched his fist, pacing the small changing room space. He could physically feel the anger course through his veins.

“What’s this about Penis?” Flash drawled as he sauntered into the changing rooms. He sounded calm but there was a tiny fleck of fear in his eyes. Peter zoned in on the fear.

“Leave me alone Flash,” he spat out. “I’m really not in the mood.”

Flash scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You brought me in here to warn me? Ooooh Penis i’m so scared!!” He raised his hands in mock surrender, laughing.

Peter’s fist clenched so hard he could feel his fingernails dig into his skin. “I’m serious.”

“Who even brings someone into the changing rooms, anyway? Are you going to try and kiss me Penis? Are you a fag?” 

“Shut up!” Peter yelled, scrunching his face up with pain. He could feel the punches from his dream echo around his head; he could hear the way his neck snapped when someone slapped his cheek. The words “Throw him in the van”, danced around his mind as Flash sneered at him.

“Is that why you disappeared?” Flash taunted. “Someone found out your dirty secret? Maybe someone found you and fatso Leeds—“

“Don’t call Ned that!” Peter spat out, his head feeling like someone had dunked him in water. He felt disorientated and the buzzing feeling of anger was making his skin prickle. 

“What, you don’t like me calling Leeds fat? Shame because he’s nothing but a obese, fat-ass—“

Peter punched Flash square in the jaw, the tingling in his fingers numbing slightly as the bully crumbled to the floor with a moan. A bruise was already forming, looking angry and swollen as Flash cupped his jaw, eyes wide with fear.

“W-what the hell Penis?”

“I did warn you,” Peter growled as he sent a kick out to Flash’s ribs, hearing the sound of a loud snap when he made contact. Flash cried out, hunching over. The teen tried to call out for help but Peter grabbed a fistful of his hair and punched the bully several times in the face. It felt like beating up a doll the way Flash didn’t even try to punch back. 

When Peter was done, Flash was crumbled on the floor at his feet. Only a few sobs escaped his lips as he shivered on the cold floor, blood seeping out of his mouth and down from his nose. The red mingled in with the tears rolling down his cheeks, small hiccuping sounds breaking the tense air.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Peter frowned at the boy before stepping over him and walking out. The corridor was empty now as people milled into their next lessons. He knew he was late but there were flecks of blood on his hands that he needed to wash off.

Staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, Peter frowned. His skin was paler than normal and there was a blankness in his eyes. Throwing water over his face, Peter forced himself to calm down. 

He washed the blood on his hands down the drain, knowing the small bruises on his knuckles would be gone before he went home tonight. He could still hear the sound of Flash’s ribs crack under his foot . . . 

Peter stared at himself for one second longer, willing the memories away. He pushed them back until he could almost forget them before drying his face and walking to his next class.

He sat down next to Ned with a smile, the last ten minutes a complete blur.


	4. Video

“Dude!” Ned greeted him when Peter picked up his call. “Flash is in the hospital!”

“What?” Peter frowned, taking apart his web shooters in the lab. Tony was sitting at his own workstation, hardly paying him any attention as the teen answered the call.

“Flash is in the hospital!” 

“I heard you the first time. Why? What happened?” The feeling of his fist hitting a skull bounced back into his mind. The sound of the snap as his feet kicked into someone’s ribs. He shook his head, willing them away.

“No one knows! Apparently he was in the boys changing rooms covered in blood, looking like he’d been beat up. But because Coach Wilson wasn’t in yesterday, they didn’t find him until the end of the day so it was pretty severe. That’s why he wasn’t in today!”

Peter mumbled out an “Oh,” before scratching his head and attempting to sound normal. “Do they know who did it?”

“Flash refuses to say who! But from what it sounds like, the fight was pretty brutal!”

Good, Peter sighs, Flash didn’t snitch. That would’ve complicated things. “Is he going to die?” 

He sees Tony look up at him with a small frown, putting some of his tools down.

“Nah, apparently he’ll survive but he’s really shaken up.”

“That sucks,” Peter mumbled. “Thanks for telling me Ned.”

“No problem due, i’ll see you tomorrow. We still set to see the movie Friday?”

Peter looked at Tony. “I’ll ask, bye Ned.”

Tony’s small frown fazed out slightly when he spoke. “Okay . . . I think you know what i’ll ask.” 

“Flash is in the hospital, he got beaten up really bad at school,” Pete shrugged, going back to his web shooters.

“Isn't that the kid who bullies you?” Tony walked over, placing a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Seems pretty fitting that your bully is beaten up.”

“What?” Peter whirled around with a strange look on his face. “You trying to imply that I did it?”

Tony stepped back, hands raised in surrender. “Woah kid, of course not. Where that come from?”

Peter shook his head, turning back to his work. “Sorry, i’m just tired.”

Hands entered his hair, ruffling it the way Peter liked. “It’s okay kid. And what’s this about Friday?”

“Oh err, Ned and i wanna see a film Friday. Is that okay?”

“How are you getting there and back? I can ask Happy-“

“Ned’s mum is taking us,” Peter lied, his voice giving nothing away. Peter of a year ago would’ve stumbled and stared at his shoes, giving him away. Peter of now was an expert. “His sister wants to see some Disney film out in theatres so we’re going as a 4 but Ned and i are breaking of.”

“She’ll drop you here?” Tony frowned, clearing it up.

Peter nodded. “Sure.”

“Okay kiddo,” Tony walked back to his station. “I see no problem then.”

“Thanks Tony.” His stomach suddenly growled loudly. “Oh err, Tony? Can we maybe eat now?”

The man laughed, nodding as he stood up. “I’ll bring some pizza down.” 

Peter watched as he left before eyeing up the man’s work station. Curiosity got the better of him as Peter stumbled over, taking in the varying Iron Man parts. He picked up one of the gauntlets, turning it over in his hands with awe. The screen before him displayed all the schematics and designs for the suits.

Glancing over his shoulder, Peter sat down and began swiping through him. He couldn’t help but be amazed when he landed on the Arc Reactor designs, reading up on how powerful and difficult to replicate it was. 

“Mr Parker, you are not supposed to be searching through Boss’s files,” FRIDAY called out.

“Please call me Peter FRIDAY,” he whined. “And i’m not doing anything bad.”

He scrolled through the Avenger designs, looking at the remakes of Cap’s shield and the Widow Bite designs. There was even a prototype for another metal arm designed for Bucky in Wakanda. 

“There are files on there that Boss wishes you not to see, Peter,” FRIDAY spoke again.

“Yeah like what?” Peter frowned. And then he found it. A file saved under an encryption was discretely hidden in plain sight. Peter made short work of the encryption, typing in his birthday for a password and smirking when it worked first time.

The file was CCTV dated from a year ago. It was just a normal street camera but as Peter watched, the dark night illuminated only by car lights and street lamps, he realised the significance of this camera was its position. For it managed to capture his abduction perfectly.

Peter watched as the grainy image of his Aunt’s car drove into sight. A truck to the left of where May would’ve been driving started coming into view, their headlights on full beam and the gas pressed all the way down. Peter watched as the truck smashed into May’s side, the audio silent.

It was less than a minute later that an ambulance pulled up to the crash sight. Men and women in uniforms came flying out, prying open the car door on Peter’s side, pulling the partially unconscious teen out of the destroyed car. They pulled him onto the stretcher, the restraints looking far more painful than they should’ve been, before loading him into the ambulance. 

So that was his abduction, Peter sighed. It was short and simple and so obviously planned out.

“FRIDAY, how many times has Tony viewed this?”

“In the last year?” FRIDAY cleared up. “More than 10,000 times Peter.”

Peter exhaled loudly. That was a lot of times. He could hear Tony’s footsteps getting closer as he returned the screen to what Tony had been looking at before. Suddenly, Peter wasn’t so hungry anymore.

“Hey kid, i got Pepperoni and Margarita!” Tony called, frowning when Peter just walked straight past him.

“Sorry, not hungry anymore.”

“Woah kid, what’s the matter?”

Peter shook his head. “Sorry Tony i just feel sick. I want to go lie down.”

Tony nodded, putting the pizza down and stepping forward. He felt Peter’s forehead with a frown. “You okay? You want me to come with you?”

“No, i’m fine.” Peter lied. “I’ll come down soon when i’m better.”

“Alert FRIDAY if you need anything okay,” Tony gave him a sad smile. “Go lie down squirt.”

Peter gave him a small smile, walking up the stairs with great effort. Obviously those Ambulance people weren’t actual paramedics but someone hired to take him. He wondered why he couldn’t even remember them. 

“—i’m just saying Peter is different,” Natasha’s voice cut through his thoughts. Peter paused from around the corner where the Avengers were talking in the kitchen. He held his breath and listened as they spoke.

“No, you’re saying we should be wary of him,” Sam cut in. Even without looking he knew the man had a frown on his and arms crossed.

“He doesn’t remember anything about the previous year!” Natasha spoke as if it cleared up her facts.

“He’s a kid Nat,” Bruce argued. “Who was kidnapped right after his Aunt died. Who knows what they did to him in that year.”

“All i’m saying is that Peter’s changed.”

“Wouldn’t you?” Steve spoke up. “If you were a 16 year old kid who just returned from a year who knows where?”

“We need to support the kid, not watch his every move.” Sam agreed.

Natasha was about to reply but Peter decided he’d heard enough. He pulled out his phone before walking off to his room.

—————————————

“We need to support the kid, not watch his every move.” Sam agreed, moving to stand next to Steve and glaring at Natasha.

The woman just rolled her eyes, not bothered by their glares. “I’m not saying anything bad but you have to admit he’s different. He’s been moodier than usual and he’s far quieter than before.”

“That may have something to do with being abducted,” Clint shrugged his shoulders.

“Fine,” Nat sighed. “But Peter needs us more than ever—“

“Which is exactly why we are going to be there to support him.” Steve ended the conversation. The others nodded numbly with Natasha just rolling her eyes.

“Alright, let’s watch a film,” Clint suggested, clapping his hands together and walking off.

“What’s the latest box office hit FRIDAY?” Steve asked as they walked to the living room.

“The latest hit would be. . . which is . . . rated PG—. . . Starring Ma . . .” The Avengers frowned as FRIDAY’s voice started cutting in and out. It sounded like static was coming through the speakers.

“FRIDAY?” Natasha called out, a heavy frown on her face.

“I am . . . detecting breach . . . South-West corner . . . going . . . offline.” She managed to mumble out before she cut off.

“FRIDAY? FRIDAY?!” Steve yelled out but the AI didn’t reply. 

“This isn’t good,” Sam mumbled as a warning sound echoed through the Compound indicating a break-in.

“Suit up,” Steve told the team. “We have visitors.”


	5. Invasion

Peter was laying on his bed, swiping through social media when he first heard the noises. Sounds of guns firing and yells echoed into his room, immediately making him jump up from his bed. 

He didn’t even bother to ask FRIDAY what the issue was before he threw open his wardrobe door, desperately searching for his Spider-Man suit. Peter knew Tony had forbidden it but he doubted the man could be angry when desperate times called for desperate measures.

Wearing the Spider-Man suit after such a long period of time felt strange yet weirdly calming. Peter felt safe in his suit, like he was finally reminded of what home felt like.

The web shooters on his desk were low with web fluid but Peter didn’t have much choice but to attach them to his wrists anyway. It was less than three minutes after the first gun shot fired out that Peter was racing down the corridor, ready to help.

“Peter!” Wanda yelled out as she used her powers to lift a man dressed in black up from the ground. She threw the guy against the wall, his gun falling out of his hands as he let out a groan. Peter quickly shot out a web to hold him in place. “Thanks,” Wanda smiled tightly at him as she let her powers stop.

“What’s going on?” Peter frowned. “Who are these people.”

“They are HYDRA,” Wanda snarled, nodding her head towards the webbed up guy with an octopus skull on his sleeve. 

“How’d they get in?” 

Wanda shrugged, already walking down the corridor to where the sounds of punches and gun shots ringed in Peter’s ears. “FRIDAY was disabled. We don’t know how.”

There was a faint static noise and the sound of someone speaking in Wanda’s ear. Peter squnited, being able to pick up the faint “There’s about 10 HYDRA agents in the living room; enter with caution Wanda” from Steve.

“I’ve found Peter,” she replied. “He’s suited up and ready to go.”

There’s a cry of indignation and a flurry of words from Tony over the comm. “Stark wants you to retreat,” Wanda looks down at Peter. 

“Tell him i can help.” Peter cried. Tony just needed to give him a chance.

“Tell him yourself,” Wanda used her powers to open the door to the living room where Steve, Sam, Clint and Vision were currently fighting off 10 HYDRA agents. Steve was throwing his shield around, dodging each bullet shot at him and Sam was using his wings to lift him off the ground as she shot at people. Clint was aiming arrow after arrow at the agents, never pausing as he shot them down. 

Vision came flying over, his stone on his forehead zapping any agent in his way. “Wanda, Peter it is not safe here.”

“It never is,” Wanda shrugged, using her powers to lift a guy aiming his gun at Sam off the ground and slamming him into the opposite wall.

“I must advice you both retreat to the Safe Room with Dr Banner.” 

“We can help!” Peter argued as Wanda lifted another agent to which he webbed up and she threw at several others like he was bowling ball. “Karen, you there?” He prayed that his AI was still working.

“Always Peter, it is good to see you again.” His AI’s voice was just as warm as he remembered.

“I missed you too Karen. Hey, do you mind connecting me to the Avenger’s Comms?”

“Certainly,” Karen replied before a new wave of sound filled Peter’s ears. He shot out web after web to catch the HYDRA agents, ducking under Sam’s wings and trying not to be in awe of Cap’s shield. He narrowly missed several of Clint’s arrows to which the archer complained about him being more careful. Vision was flanking Wanda, shooting anyone with the mind stone if they got too close.

“There’s about 15 agents down on the floor below!” Tony’s voice yelled through his ears. 

“We’re almost done here,” Steve replied. “And we can come down soon.”

“I’ll help!” Peter yelled, already running towards the stairs. He ducked under a fist before kicking his leg out, sending the agent falling. He then shot a web, keeping the man in place.

“Kid?” Tony didn’t sound happy. “I told Wanda to tell you to retreat.”

“I can help!”

“Peter seriously, go to the Safe Room with Bruce. Now!”

“Tony, i’m not fragile or anything— i can help you out!”

“Stark, we need the numbers.” Natasha spoke up. “And Banner’s secure; i just got him to the Safe Room. No Code Green.”

“I don’t care about numbers— Peter, safe room now!”

Peter had joined the downstairs battle by now, shooting webs out to the ceiling and swinging around to kick the agents in the face. Rhodey and Tony were blasting anyone in sight and Natasha was mixing between shooting people down and beating them up.

“Peter!” Tony sounded incredulous that the kid had disobeyed him. He shot someone down who was on Rhodey’s back before turning to the kid as he shot webs out and threw punches.

“Sorry i can’t not help!”

“Kid, on your left.” Natasha cut in just in time for Peter to turn and catch the arm of someone sneaking up on him. He turned their wrist until it snapped and grabbed the gun out their hand. Peter threw it to Natasha with a thumbs up.

“We’re clear up here!” Steve said through the comms.

“Clear here too,” Rhodey replied as he shot down the last agent. Peter stared at the bodies on the floor, cringing at the sight.

“Peter what the hell was that?” Tony yelled, his faceplate coming up to show how angry he was.

Peter was about to turn and reply when a tingling sensation went down his back. He turned around in a circle, trying to see what could be the problem. He was about to shrug and say it was nothing when he suddenly noticed one of the HYDRA agents on the floor wasn’t as dead or unconscious as they’d thought. Their arm was raised, gun pointed on the back of Natasha.

Peter didn’t even think twice before he screamed for Nat to watch out. He went to shoot out a web and pull her to safety but as he went to aim, nothing came out. He shook his wrist desperately trying to make it work. Panic filled Peter as the gun was cocked and ready to fire.

He didn’t even think as he darted over to where Nat was standing, finally having noticed the shooter but too slow to stop him now. Peter jumped on her as the sound of the bullet firing echoed through the corridor. He could hear Tony yelling and the sound of people asking what was happening through the comms but Peter ignored it all. 

All he cared about what that Natasha was safe. Her body was still under his and after a few seconds of the initial shock wearing off, she finally moved out from under him. Nat’s face was pulled in a frown as she ran a hand over her body, checking for any bullet grazes. 

The rest of the team had arrived downstairs by this point, all of them rushing over. Tony shot a repulser blast at the agent’s head, watching as he crumpled to the floor. As quick as lightning, he was out of his suit and keeling beside Peter. Steve did the same to Nat.

“Are you hurt?” Steve asked, looking between Nat and Peter, the former sitting up with a tight expression and the latter still splayed out on the floor with shock.

“Peter saved my life,” Nat shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“Kid, you alright?” Tony asked, hands going to Peter’s face. There was a panicked look of fear in his eyes. 

Peter didn’t stop to check before nodding.

“You have balls kid,” Clint stepped forward, squatting down to slap a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “We thank you.”

“I-It’s okay, i’m glad you’re okay Nat.”

She nodded at him stiffly, something unreadable about her expression.

“Come on kid, let’s you back to your room,” Tony stood up, helping Peter to his feet. The second Peter moved, his torso stretching, a groan escaped his lips. Red hot pain consumed him, his feet wobbling under Tony had to hold him up. “Peter? Peter, what’s wrong?”

“Oh shit,” Clint mumbled. “He’s been shot.” 

Peter scrunched up his face in pain, his vision blurring as the pain in his left side became unbearable. He hadn’t felt it before but now he could, he couldn’t help but cry out. It felt like a million daggers stabbing him as he tried to not pass out.

“Someone get Bruce!” He heard Steve yell as Tony lowered him back to the ground. 

“Peter! Peter, stay awake!”

He wanted to do as Tony said but the pain was eating him alive, burning his skin and causing him to sob. Wet, hot liquid was gushing out of his side and he could feel it run down the leg of his suit. Peter wanted to squirm or cry but he couldn’t manage more than a sob before the pain made his vision fade.

“id—Peter—awake!” Tony’s voice drifted in and out, the words getting lost as Peter struggled to see. It was like a black cloud was looming over his sight and he couldn’t get away from it.

“S-sorry,” he mumbled, barely louder than a whisper before he was pulled into the darkness.


	6. Recovery

Peter shivered in the dark cell, his bones feeling frail and his skin covered in goosebumps. He wrapped his arms around his torso tighter, willing himself to feel even an inch of warmth. His fingers felt like ice to the skin shown through his ripped t-shirt. 

The cell was smaller than his room back in May’s apartment, the walls made of concrete and black. They forced the cold in, holding it there for Peter to freeze. Even with his enhanced strength, he couldn’t break the cold bricks of the room they’d trapped him in. 

Loud groans rumbled from his stomach, a small sob escaping Peter’s lips as he thought of how hungry he was. Days without food was like months to his enhanced metabolism. His throat was dry and scratchy, his brain slightly foggy as he dreamt of food he was sure he’d never see again. His ribs were beginning to poke out and when he touched his jaw, all he could feel was bone. Peter was sure if he looked in a mirror, all he’d see were sunken features and blank eyes.

Peter opened his mouth a fraction, breathing out. A puff of smoke followed his breath, floating up in front of his face before fading out. A shiver ran over his body in retaliation. 

Tears began to fall down his face, small droplets dripping down his cheek and landing on his knee as he placed his chin on them. Sobs racked his small frame, the complete sense of loneliness overtaking him.

“Tony please,” he mumbled, beginning to rock. “Please find me.”

“Please find me.”

“Please find me.”

“Please find me.”

 

The sound of his heartbeat beeping on the machine helped ground him as he suddenly was jolted from his nightmare and back to the present. Peter could feel bandages wrapped tightly around his waist, feeling no pain in his side where the bullet had hit. He was sure that with his enhanced healing, he was all healthy and fixed. 

“Peter?” Tony’s voice cut through his consciousness, forcing his eyes to open. The man was sitting beside his bed, hand held in his own, with a worried look on his face. “Hey kiddo.”

“Hey Tony,” he whispered, smiling softly. “We gotta stop meeting like this.”

Tony let out a laugh, a hand going into Peter’s hair. “You gotta stop giving me heart attacks kid.”

Peter frowned. “Was it bad?”

“You had a bullet in you. I think that counts as bad.”

“Is everyone else okay though? Natasha: was she hurt?”

“No, Pete, she’s fine.” Tony gives him a small, proud smile. “Thanks to you. The bullet would’ve hit her square in the chest if you hadn’t pushed her away. Not that i’m saying i’m happy about you jumping in the way of a shooter.”

“I needed to help.”

“Why didn’t you just web him up, kid?”

“My web shooters were out!”

Tony sighed. “Remind me to add spare web fluid into your suit in case you run out again.”

“I’m sorry if i scared you,” Peter mumbled, looking down at his hands.

Tony ruffled his hair gently. “Hey, you saved Nat. Peter, i’m so proud of how brave you are. Sure, i was worried but no one died— that’s all that matters right now.”

Peter nodded, listening to the sound of his heartbeat on the machine. The steady BEEP BEEP BEEP kept him focused on the here and now.

“Hey, what’s wrong buddy?” Tony frowned when he noticed the glazed look in his kid’s eye.

“I keep having nightmares,” Peter admitted, biting his lip. He knew there was no shame in having bad dreams but he couldn’t help but feel so exposed when admitting it. Even to Tony.

Tony’s hand weaved into Peter’s hair, providing the exact comfort that Peter needed. “You wanna tell me about it?”

Peter shook his head. No, he didn’t want to tell Tony about the horrible things he sae almost each night. Half the time when he woke up after the nightmare, he still expected to see the red blood dripping from his hands. 

“Will you tell me anyway Pete?” Tony’s voice was soft and calming, almost trying to force Peter to open up but in a nice, non judgemental way. “I’m always here for you kid, remember that.”

Peter nodded, eyes drifting off to stare at a random object in the room. He opened his mouth to speak, feeling like he was bearing his soul out. “I keep seeing things.”

“What things?’

“Things about where i was this last year. It’s not much but it scares me.”

Tony’s voice sounds grave and scared when he asks what Peter sees.

“I see this cell that i was in, i think it was right after i was abducted. I was so cold and hungry and no one had come into the cell for days. I was all alone and scared. I don’t know much else.”

Tony’s fingers get sturdier in his hair, the other hand turning Peter’s face to look at him. There’s something wild and paternal in the billionaires eyes as he stares right at the kid. “You’re safe, Pete. You’re safe now and i swear, as long as i’m alive, you’ll be safe. I’m so sorry about what happened kiddo—“

“It wasn’t your fault,” Peter interrupted, eyes wide. How could Tony blame himself? No one knew it was going to happen. It wasn’t like Tony sold him out.

“I feel like it was kid,” Tony admitted, eyes falling to Peter’s shoulder as he sighed heavily. “You were my responsibility and i messed up.”

“You didn’t know,” Peter argued. “That can’t be blamed on you. Please don’t blame yourself.”

Tony sighed again, eyes moving back to Peter’s. “I won’t let it happen again,” he says with a fierceness, ignoring Peter’s words. 

“i know you’ll try,” Peter mumbles, head shifting closer to Tony. The man leans forward, placing his head on Peter’s shoulder so the teen can press his cheek to his temple. They stay like that for a while, soaking in each other’s warmths and the comfort they provide.

After a while, Tony sits back up with a different look. He’s almost pale as he speaks, eyes glistening somewhat. “I’ve told you before that my father never provided me with much comfort or kind words when i was kid. I think the last time i went to him for help when i was scared, he yelled at me how Stark men don’t cry and that i needed to grow up. I was six, i think.”

“Tony, that’s horrible—“

“I’m not saying this for pity Pete,” Tony spoke over him. “I’m saying it because i want you to know that i never had any good male role models in the parenting department. My old man was like stone and Obie— well, Obie was a prick on a whole new level. But i’m trying, kid, i really am. I want to be here for you and i want you to come to me next time you have a nightmare. I don’t care how early or late it is.”

“It’s not that i don’t trust you or don’t want you Tony,” Peter argued, voice soft. Tears glistened in his eyes, threatening to fall.

“I know kid, i’m just saying. I’m here. I’m here for the long haul: for the late nights, for the tears, for the drama . . . for every emotion a teenage boy in your predicament can feel. Nothing you say will turn me away.”

Peter didn’t reply; instead he closed his eyes, the feeling of Tony’s hand playing with his hair drifting him off to sleep. Sometimes, there were times that even Peter Parker couldn’t make up a reply. Tony wasn’t going to leave him, of that Peter was sure. 

For the first time in a year, Peter found himself drifting off into a nightmare-less sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg this time tomorrow i'll be watching endgame in theatres this is crazy y'all i promise to not spoil anything bc that would b one massive dick move


	7. Sneaking Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honour of Endgame coming out in the UK on the 25th (which is literally tomorrow bc it comes out at midnight) i'm posting Chapter 6 and 7 at the same time as one big double whammy :))
> 
> Enjoy :))

By the time Friday rolled around, the team was still reeling from the Invasion a couple days before. No HYDRA agent had survived to answer the teams questions and there was no possible explanation for how FRIDAY had been hacked.

“Are you sure she didn’t just malfunction?” Steve had asked once again when the team were circled around in the living room. The furniture had been replaced and the walls were in the middle of being repainted (thank God Tony was a billionaire). They were all currently laying around, sitting upright on the new sofas with curious and confused looks. Peter was leaning on Tony’s shoulder, a blanket draped over him as he floated in and out of the conversation. He was well past the point of healed from his bullet wound but Tony was still forcing him to take it slow.

“Are you trying to insult me?” Tony frowns, giving Steve a heavy glare. “Of course not. Someone hacked her coding to put her offline and lower the security of the building.”

“Could an outsider have hacked the coding?” Natasha frowned, walking over to give Peter a drink. Ever since he’d pushed her to safety, Nat had pushed all her doubts to the side, instead opting to help Tony with hovering over the teen. Peter accepted the drink with a small smile.

“No,” Tony sounded grave. “The person had to of been in the building to hack dear ol FRIDAY. Isn’t that right baby girl?”

“That is correct Boss,” FRIDAY’s deeply missed voice spoke from the ceiling. “They would either have hacked me in your lab where the majority of my software is stored or in the power box located to the right of your bedroom.”

“So one of those HYDRA assholes managed to avoid detection and take out our security from the inside? How?” Sam frowned.

“I don’t know,” Tony sighed, sounding impossibly worn out. “But i was in the lab so whoever did it must’ve taken it out on her power box.”

“Wanda and i saw someone on the floor of your room,” Peter spoke up. “He was down the corridor from where your bedroom is. Wasn’t he, Wanda?”

Wanda nodded, leaning more into Vision’s side. “It is true. I found him down that corridor. It looked like he was heading more towards Peter room though.”

“Wait— what?”

“He had his gun out and he was heading towards Peter’s room,” Wanda cleared up. “That’s when i threw him against the wall and Peter arrived to web him up.”

“So someone— anyone with access to this building potentially— is working with HYDRA under our very noses and is after the kid?” Clint spoke up, looking angry.

“Peter,” Bruce looked encouragingly at the teenager. Peter squirmed when all sets of eyes turned on him. “Do you remember anything that could be linked to HYDRA?”

Peter squeezes his eyes shut, willing a memory to resurface. He sees flashes of red and a cruel laugh before a symbol stands out. Peter nods slowly, “The octopus-skull symbol HYDRA has . . . I r-remember it. I’ve seen it before today.”

Tony’s arms wrap tighter around his shoulders. “So we have a possible HYDRA threat after the kid, great.” He mumbles.

“Do you remember anything else?” Nat asks, voice impossibly soft. Peter feels a fist to his skull and sees a crooked pair of teeth smiling at him.

“No,” he lies.

“That’s okay bud,” Tony strokes his hair, looking around at the team. “We need to be on high alert now,” he tells them. “HYDRA is possibly after Peter for whatever reason. We need to protect him.”  
The rest of the team nod and mumble agreements, looking grave.

“Why would they be after the kid, though?” Sam speaks up after a few minutes. “I swear Pete, you said that you were dumped in the streets and that’s how you were set free. Why would HYDRA kidnap Peter for a year, only to dump him and then try to re-kidnap him again?”

“Why does HYDRA do anything?” Wanda spat out, pain and hatred in her voice. “It could be a game.”

“We also don’t know if HYDRA were the ones to kidnap Peter,” Natasha agreed. “They could’ve just been allies and now Peter’s free, maybe HYDRA is fearing that he knows something he shouldn’t.”

“I don’t care about the reasons why,” Tony growled out, looking at the team with a frown. “All i care is that Peter is safe.”

“Tony,” Steve gave the man a look. “You know we’ll do everything in our power to do that.”

“Thank you,” Peter mumbled, something heavy in his throat. “It means a lot.”

“Of course squirt,” Clint rolled his eyes. 

Rhodey walked past him from behind the sofa, patting him on the shoulder. “You’re part of the family now, Pete, you have been for a long time.” 

“We aren’t just gonna serve you on a silver platter,” Sam added in before mumbling under his breath. “Even if you can be a little asshole.” Steve sent him a glare as Clint chuckled and Wanda used her powers to slam a pillow in Sam’s face.

Peter smiled shyly, feeling Tony’s grip tighten once more. It seemed like the man was afraid if he let go, HYDRA would come back and take him.

“What about the hacker?” Bruce asked, a small frown on his face. “We still don’t know how they managed to get in undetected?”

“Maybe they had a Photostatic Veil to make their face look like one of ours to get clearance?” Clint suggested. “We know HYDRA infiltrated SHEILD so it’s possible they designed tech like ours.”

“FRIDAY was programmed to see past that.” Tony shook his head.

“If they were able to get in,” Natasha spoke slowly. “Then we don’t know how advanced their tech is compared to your AI’s scans. This never should’ve happened in the first place.”

“FRDAY,” Tony says to the ceiling again. “Did you detect any anomalies in any facial scanning during or prior to the Invasion?”

“No Boss, all systems were working as normal previously. All scans were authentic.”

“This makes no sense,” Steve glared at his hands. “The Avengers are meant to be better than SHEILD but yet we allowed ourselves to be compromised.”

“HYDRA are tricky to predict,” Vision states.

“Well we need to beat them, difficult to predict or not.” There was a coldness in his voice now.

Peter looked down at his phone, frowning when he saw the time. He managed to squirm his way out of Tony’s grip as he stood off from the sofa, making his way to his room.  
“Where are you going?” Tony frowned at him as Peter paused to look back at the Avengers.

“Uhh— to my room?” Peter replied; it was kind of obvious. “I need to get ready?”

“For what?” Tony’s frown grew deeper and Peter tried to ignore the confused looks the team were giving him.

“I’m going to that movie with Ned in half an hour,” Peter reminded them all. “It’s Friday night.”

Sam had an incredulous look on his face as his eyes darted around the team. “Was he even present for the majority of this conversation?”

Tony huffed, standing up from the sofa himself. “You aren’t going to that Peter.”

Peter now held the look of confusion. “Why not?”

“Hmm,” Tony pretend to think for a second. “Maybe because a few days ago HYDRA agents broke into our home in order to— as we just established— kidnap you! And not to mention you were recently shot!”

“I’m healed!”

“Peter,” Nat shook her head, arms crossed. “It’s a security risk.”

“I can take care of myself!”

“We know that son,” Steve nodded, his tone slightly patronising. “But we need to take precautions.”

“I’ll be with Ned,” Peter whined.

“Oh yeah,” Tony scoffed. “Because your average 16 year old friend is going to be able to protect you from HYDRA agents. How silly of me, how could i forget about Ted?”

“Tony please” Peter frowned. “I just want to be normal.”

“And i want you safe.” Tony replied with no remorse. “The answer is no, Pete. No movie.”

“This sucks,” the teenager huffed, stomping off. As he walked away he could hear Clint talking to the team. 

“It was like he didn’t hear a word we said 5 minutes ago.”

Peter frowned as he entered his room. He knew he could protect himself. It wasn’t like he was a normal kid and unlike the last time he was kidnapped, Peter was prepared. He knew to be more vigilant and on the look out for any bad guys.

A text from Ned was what made up his mind a few minutes later. 

N: Hey, you still coming to the cinema? I’ll meet you outside at 8:55 yeah?

P: Sure, see you there!

Peter pocketed his phone, pulling out his stashed Spider-Man suit, ignoring the massive hole on the side that hadn’t been fixed yet. He refilled his web shooters before opening up the window.

“Hey FRIDAY?” He called out, half in and half out the window.

“Yes Peter?” The AI spoke out.

“If i go out for a few hours will you inform Tony?”

“As per protocol, if there is any danger to your life, i have to inform Boss immediately.”

“But i’m just going to a movie, i won’t be endangering myself,” Peter debates. “Please, i really need to get out.”

There was silence for a couple of minutes before FRIDAY spoke up again, almost reluctant. “I agree that there is minimal risk. I shall not inform Boss of your departure unless asked of your whereabouts. Enjoy yourself, Peter.”

“Thanks FRI,” Peter grinned, pulling his mask over his face as he jumped out the window, beginning his short journey to the cinema as he swung around New York for the first time in a year.

God, it felt good to be free.


	8. Chased

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SEEING ENDGAME TONIGHT!!!!! 
> 
> Is it honestly possible to even feel this excited???

“That movie was so cool!” Ned yelled as they exited the movie theatre a little over two hours after Peter had snuck out. His friend was animated as he spoke, going over every plot line and using hand gestures to make his point. “I really didn’t see that plot twist and then BAM the hero turned out to be evil— poetic cinema, my friend wow!”

Peter laughed as they walked down the streets away from the movie theatre. By now it was dark out and the streetlamp were blaring down at them with an orange glow. 

“You don’t have to walk me home,” Ned argued as Peter continued to walk beside him, despite the Tower being in the opposite direction. 

Peter just shrugged, tapping away on his phone for a second before continuing to talk to his best friend about the movie. “And when the dog died,” Peter shook his head, placing a hand on his heart. “No i almost cried!”

Ned laughed as they reached his house, the lights in the living room still on as his parents waited up for him. “Alright dude,” they completed their secret handshake with smiles. “See you Monday; text me when you get home, okay?”

Peter nodded, waving good-bye to his friend as Ned walked into his house. He was about to find somewhere to change so he could swing home as Spider-Man in order to preserve his identity when he felt a prickling feeling at the back of his neck.

Danger.

Peter decided his identity would be on the line if he changed now so instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets and began the trek by foot. Despite it being just passed 11 at night, there were still lots of cars on the roads, their headlights seeming brighter to Peter’s sensitive eyes as he walked down the streets. 

The tingling feeling didn’t go away as Peter continued his walk. Instead, it got more intense with each step. Looking around, he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. There was no tall figure walking behind him or strange looking person on the street opposite. The night was dark but Peter couldn’t see anyone lurking in the shadows. 

The feeling of fear increased as the dull ache of his Spidey sense became a constant pain, throbbing and screaming at him to be careful. Danger, it yelled, Danger! 

In a moment of panic, Peter pressed the panic button on the watch Tony had given him over a year ago. He knew he was going to be in trouble when Iron Man arrived with a frown and “You deliberately disobeyed me!” But something was happening, Peter could feel it. Bad things were going to happen and he couldn’t risk pulling on his suit because he didn’t know what the danger was yet.

It was past 5 minutes since he’d pressed the panic button on his watch that he finally noticed the black van trailing at a slower pace to the speed limit behind him. One look over his shoulder and Peter knew he was in trouble. His Spidey sense screamed at him the second he made eye contact with the large, black van with a octopus-skull built into the metal holding the tyres. Yeah, this was bad.

Peter didn’t even pause before he sprinted down the street, hearing the sound of the tyres squeal on the concrete as they chased after him. Panic filled every inch of his body as he tore down the streets, quickly changing direction and ducking down an alley. Despite knowing he’d lost them, Peter continued to run for what felt like hours until he finally heard the sound of repulsers behind him.

“Oi Speedy Gonzalez,” Iron Man’s metallic voice called out, making Peter pause in his running. He hunched over, breathing heavily. The fear was still coursing through his veins, forcing tears to come to his eyes as he breathed so harshly that he thought he might puke for a second.

“Tony,” he breathed out, eyeing the man before him. Iron Man dropped down onto the street, his faceplate going up to reveal Tony’s angry expression that mingled with confusion.

“You want to explain to me what the hell is going on?” Tony stepped out of the suit, holding tightly to his left wrist as he frowned down on Peter.

Peter just panted for a few seconds, the Spidey sense having calmed down now. No Danger. “Someone was following me,” he admitted.

The frown on Tony’s face got heavier as he asked who. “I don’t know!” Peter cried out. “My Spidey sense flared up and i saw this black van with the HYDRA symbol behind me so i panicked and ran. I think i lost them.”

Tony stepped back into his suit without another word. “Let’s head back,” he replied tersely, picking Peter up as he flew back to the Tower. By the time they landed, Peter’s panic had subsided and he felt far safer than he had 10 minutes ago. 

Tony once again stepped out the suit, gesturing Peter follow him. The rest of the Avengers were still laying around the living room, this time with frowns on their faces a movie halfway through Forrest Gump paused on the large screen. Tony moved Peter to sit in the same spot he’d occupied no more than 3 hours ago.

“What’s going on?” Steve frowned as he looked between the pair. All the other Avengers looked thoroughly confused, looking at Peter’s rosy cheeks and messy hair to Tony’s scowl and anger lines.

“The kid just tested out our hypothesis,” Tony half answered. “You want to tell the team what just happened Peter?”

“Not really,” Peter argued, looking at his hands.

“I wasn’t asking,” Tony growled. “Tell them, now.”

Peter sighed, still slightly pumped up on adrenaline. “I went to the movie.”

“Oh Peter,” Bruce sighed, head falling into his hands.

“Great listening skills,” Sam leaned back in his chair with small pout.

“What happened?” Steve asked, looking solely at Peter.

“I was coming back when my Spidey sense tingled— it warns me about potential danger. There was a van with the HYDRA symbol tailing behind me. I’d only just lost it when Tony found me.”

“They were following you?” Natasha frowned. “I guess that proves that HYDRA really is after Peter.”

“Why did you go out?” Tony turns to Peter, frustration coming through. “I told you not to— and this happens!”

“I just wanted to see Ned!” Peter argued, feeling sick again. “Something life altering happened to me and i just want to get on with my life and stop being so brought down by it! I just want to be normal!”

“Peter,” Tony kneels down before him, hands on his shoulders. “I want you to be normal too. I want you to experience a normal life and do normal things. But i want you safe on top of that. I don’t want you defying me, thinking you can handle these things. What if HYDRA had gotten you again tonight? They might not be so kind as to let you go this time!”

“And that’s another thing!” Peter shrugged off Tony’s hands, standing up from the sofa. “If HYDRA didn’t want me enough to throw me onto the streets last week, how do you know they want me now?”

“They broke into the Tower,” Clint pulled a face as if it were obvious.

“They followed you tonight,” Wanda pointed out. “Don’t think you can understand HYDRA, Peter.”

Peter groaned before turning back to Tony as the man stood up. “I’m sorry i snuck out.”

Tony placed his hand back on Peter’s shoulder, bringing him in for a hug. He let his chin rest on Peter’s crown before sighing. “We need to take more precautions now that we know HYDRA is after you.”

Peter pulled back with a small frown. “Small precautions like what?”

“For one, no more school,” Steve nodded, decision already made. “It puts all your peers at risk as well as yourself.”

“And no more going out,” Natasha added on. “Otherwise tonight will just happen again.”

“You need to go to a safe location,” Bruce spoke up, looking thoughtful. “That way the team can investigate what HYDRA might want and how to stop them without putting you at risk Peter.”

Peter looked at Bruce with betrayal. “W-what? No!”

“I agree kid,” Tony mumbled, his hand on Peter’s shoulder getting harder. “We need you out the way as the Avengers deal with HYDRA. A safe location will provide that.”

“Tony, you should go with him.” Rhodey called out, arms crossed.

“Oh no Platypus,” Tony shook his head. “I’m going to bring the assholes who keep trying to steal my kid, down.”

“No Tony, you should go.” Steve agreed with Rhodey. “Peter trusts you the most. You need to go and be with him.”

Tony thought about it for a second before sighing, nodding his head. “Fine, fine.”

Peter felt like a death sentence was being dropped. His mouth opened and closed a few times, looking around with wide eyes. “A safe location? What do you mean?”

“Pete,” Tony stared at him with a seriousness that made him uncomfortable. “We need to keep you safe so you and I are going to go somewhere off grid for a while until HYDRA is dealt with.”

“For how long?” Tears fell down his cheeks as he stared at Tony with complete trust.

“I don’t know.”

The tears came faster when Rhodey suggested they leave sooner rather than later. It was less than 5 minutes after that, that Tony ushered him to his room in order to pack for them leaving before the sun rose the next day.

As Peter entered his room, he felt distraught at how his life was shaping to be this way.


	9. Safe House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so i saw endgame and it killed me. Like it actually killed me. Might take a bit longer for me to post another chapter bc i'm actually dying and still reeling over what the hell happened in that film.

They arrived at the ‘Safe House’ as Tony called it around lunch time the next day. After a sad goodbye between the Avengers, Steve had promised that Peter would be back before he knew it.

Peter knew that wouldn’t be true.

The ‘Safe House’ was somewhere in Canada and was less a House than it was a Cabin in the woods. Peter wasn’t sure how the Avengers knew of it but by the time they arrived, it was stocked with food and there was a lit fire in the fireplace. He didn’t bother to ask Tony how everything was so prepared, instead opting to throw his small suitcase of things in the room Tony had said was his.

The room was smaller than the one at the Tower, with wooden walls and a furry rug decorating half the floor. His bed was a single, made of wood as well, with a comfy mattress and heavy duvet. There was a wooden wardrobe which Peter began filling with his clothes. Tony’s room was similar to his own.

Apart from their rooms, there were only three other rooms. One was a small bathroom with a tacky shower and toilet; the mirror was old as well, with a large crack cutting jagged down the middle.

The other two rooms fizzled into each other with no door or archway. The kitchen was small with mandatory kitchen items and not much else. There was an old gas stove with a few pots and pans in the cupboards with a small counter in order to prepare food. The fridge was tiny, holding only a few items and it made a weird noise when opened and closed. The living room was cosy, with a fur rug covering half of the stone, cold floor. The cream sofas were angled towards the fireplace and there was a tall bookcase to the left of the room.

However, despite the Safe House’s cosy and home-like appeal, the Cabin was well stocked. With secret compartments located all around the place housing guns and grenades, it was a perfect place to hide out and defend oneself. Tony had shown him where all the Iron Man armour was stored, with added tech of Widow Bites and arrows dotted around in case any of the other Avengers stopped by. 

Peter thought it was pretty cool, even if he hated the idea of being there.

P: I miss you Ned 

He typed on his burner phone, having been forced to ditch his real phone back at the Tower in case anyone had hacked or tracked it. The phone in his hand was basically a dinosaur with a flip screen and buttons you had to press 3 or 4 times in order to text a word. It took forever to type and Peter truly missed his Stark Phone. 

He’d been sending out messages ever since they’d arrived.

N: I miss you too  
N: When are you back?

P: I don’t know :/

Another bad thing was that the Ancient Phone had no emojis. Peter rolled his eyes at the crappy attempt for a emoticon.

N: That sucks  
N: School is so lame without you

P: How did you survive school when i wasn’t there a whole year?

N: I didn’t   
N: I don’t like this Pete, why did you have to go back to your family abroad?

Peter sighed, looking up from his phone. Tony was across the room, silently reading a book from the shelf and sipping on a still hot cup of coffee. This had been their routine ever since the Avengers had dropped them off here a few days ago. Peter would mope and text Ned and Tony would read, occasionally taking a call outside from his own burner phone to ask the Avengers how things were going.

“Hey Tony,” Peter called, snapping the monstrosity of a phone shut and walking closer to the man on the sofa.

“Hey Pete,” Tony copied in, making Peter roll his eyes.

“Can i phone Ned?”

“Why you asking buddy? I’m not one to stand in the way of your bromance.”

“Tony,” Peter whined.

“I’m kidding kiddo, of course you can call Ted. Why are you asking permission?”

“I want to tell him the truth.”

That had Tony sitting up, looking at Peter with curiosity. “Like all the truth? About last year . . .?”

Peter bit down on his lip, nodding. “Well, yeah. He’s my best friend. I want him to know, you know.”

Tony nodded his head, going back to his book. “If you trust him buddy, it’s your choice. I support all you decide.”

“Okay,” Peter mumbled, walking outside and lifting the phone up to his ear. It took three seconds for Ned to answer his call. “Hey.”

“Peter!” Ned called out, voice antsy and full of fear. “Dude, how are you?”

“To be fair i’ve been better.”

“You aren’t hurt are you?” Ned cut in. “And you’re not lying to me about it right?”

Peter sighed. “No, i’m not hurt— anymore. But i am lying.”

“Peter what’s going on?”

“Ned, i didn’t go stay with family abroad when May died.” Peter decided telling the truth was like ripping off a bandaid. “I was kidnapped.”

“Peter— what?”

“May and i were in a car crash, some bad people took me. We think maybe they belonged to HYDRA. The Avengers kept it secret because they didn’t know if it was Spider-Man related or not. I’m sorry i lied Ned, i just didn’t know how to tell you.”

“You were actually kidnapped? For a whole year?”

“Yeah.”

There was silence on the other line for a few minutes. “Are you okay now? Why did they take you?”

Peter shrugged before remembering this was an audio call. “I don’t know. I don’t remember much about what happened. I just know that a little under 2 weeks ago, i was thrown into the back of a van, heavily beaten up and then dumped on some random street. I went to Police and Tony picked me up.”

“Peter— i . . . So why are you gone now?”

“HYDRA is after me— again. The Avengers moved me to a Safe House with Tony for my protection. After the movie on Friday, HYDRA started stalking me. They also broke in to the Tower.”

“Woah. And they’re after you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Beats me.” Peter lied. “But Ned i wanted to let you know because we might not talk for a while now. I’ll be at this Safe House for probably a long time and i might not see you for even longer than that.”

“It’s okay,” Ned mumbled, clearly emotional. “I just want you safe dude.”

“God, i really did miss you Ned. I want you to know that.” Peter felt his own throat close up as tears began to form.

“I know dude,” Ned seemed to cry as well. “I missed you two. You’re my brother Peter.”

“And you’re mine.” Peter sobbed. “Bye Ned.”

“Bye Peter.”

Peter ended the call before he could sob even harder. He wished he could talk to Ned for a century more but Peter was afraid about what he would say. He didn’t want to burden Ned with what he knew or had done. He just wanted his best friend to know a part of the truth.

Peter sat outside of the Cabin on the porch steps for longer, listening to the night and trying to calm the nerves he felt. The moon was large in the sky, seeming to eat up half the large trees surrounding their small Cabin. 

He was about to get up and step inside, the chilly wind starting to make him shiver, when he head it. 

CRUNCH

It was just the small and distant sound of a twig breaking as a foot stepped on it but the sound immediately sent a shock wave down Peter’s spine. The rustling of the wind couldn’t mask the increasing and constant faint noises of branches and leaves cracking in half as heavy sets of feet surrounded them. Peter peered into the darkness surrounding them, heart beating at an erratic level as he could make out the faint outline of people dressed in black uniforms, their guns locked and loaded in their hands.

Peter was through the door in seconds, making his way over to the control pad by Tony’s room. He quickly typed in a code, his fingers beginning to shake.

Tony was looking from his book by the time Peter joltily entered back into the living room, slamming his hand down on every secret compartment, pocketing the guns and grenades. He kept throwing glances out the single window, watching the night with unease.

“Kid, what’s going on?” There was a lace of panic in Tony’s voice as he watched Peter run around, taking out each weapon the Safe House owned. “Peter— stop! What’s going on?”

“They’re here,” Peter paused, looking Tony dead in the eyes. There was something scary in the brown orbs Tony had grown to know, making the man step back a second as he got off the sofa.

“Who is?”

“HYDRA,” Peter breathed. “I can hear them. There’s about 50 of them surrounding us right now.”

“Oh shit,” Tony mumbled, pulling out his burner phone. Despite it being old, he’d managed to programme his AI into it. “FRIDAY, suit up now!”

“Mal. . . function occur. . . ing.” FRIDAY’s voice went in and out before the sound of static buzzed in the air. 

“What?” Tony stared down at the phone in disbelief and panic. “Again? No, no, no! How did HYDRA hack FRIDAY— again?” He seemed to be buzzing with nervous charge as he paced the length of the room, looking for a spare weapon.

“They didn’t.” Peter spoke in a monotonous voice when Tony’s search for a weapon was thwarted by the fact he’d taken them all. “I did.”

With little remorse and no emotion, Peter lifted the gun up. Pointed right at Tony’s head.

Before the man could react, the window was smashed as something spurting out green gas was thrown into the room. Tony watched with horror as Peter pulled on his Spider mask, the gas not affecting him as Tony sunk down to the floor, knocked out cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also shoutout to @LordLuminous for guessing my plot twist a few chapters ago lmao


	10. A Year Missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My mind is still reeling from Endgame yikes what is happening to me???
> 
> This chapter focuses more on Peter's time away during the past year
> 
> Enjoy :)))

Aunt May’s car parked right outside the Compound as Tony and Peter headed towards it after their long few hours in the lab. 

“Alright kid,” Tony clapped Peter’s shoulder with a proud grin. “I guess i’ll be seeing you this weekend for more Team Training, yes?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Peter beamed up at his mentor. “Don’t start training without me!” He yelled as he retreated to May’s car.

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Tony yelled back, waving them off as May rolled down her windscreen, waving to him as she drove off.

“Hi baby,” she smiled at Peter, eyes moving from the road to her nephew and back again.

“Hey May,” Peter grinned back at her, relaxing in his seat. “How was your friend?”

“Doing just fine,” May nods. “Did you have fun with Tony?”

Peter grin grew even larger as he started recounting everything that he and Mr Stark had done in the hours from school to now. They were well into the city by the time he finished, taking in one big breath as his smile stayed plastered on his face.

“It was so funny, May,” Peter laughed. “Dum-E went wild, getting out this massive fire extinguisher over a tiny flame. He doused half of Dad’s face in the foam as he— oh.”

The slip up of calling Mr Stark ‘Dad’ wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Thankfully, the only people he’d slipped up to had been Ned, MJ and now May. He would probably die if Mr Stark heard him.

“Baby, did you just. . .” May trailed off, her hands getting tighter on the wheel. It was dark out now, the streetlights glowing an ominous orange as May switched on her headlights, becoming more vigilant.

“I’m sorry May,” Peter shook his head. He felt so dumb; May would definitely take offence to the fact that Peter saw Tony as a father figure considering her husband had raised Peter his whole life and her brother-in-law had been his biological father. “I should be more considerate, I never called Ben ‘Dad’ so i have no right thinking of Tony that way.”

“Oh no baby, no.” May shook her head, one hand brushing his cheek as she stopped at a red light. “Don’t say that, please. I know what Ben was to you, just like you know what you were to him. God, Peter never think that i would be upset about how you view Tony. I may have had my reservations about him at first but he’s been good to you. He’s there for you in so many ways that i can’t be, baby.”

“May, i love you.” Peter told her, feeling suddenly more freed in his view of Tony. If May said it was okay then maybe Tony would too. Peter was just thinking of how he could casually slip in calling Tony Dad or asking him if it was okay when a sudden prickle ran down his spine.

“I love you too baby,” May smiled at him as she started to drive when the light went red. The prickle became a full body jolt when Peter snapped his head to the side, seeing a large pair of headlights zooming towards them. He didn’t even have a chance to move and protect May before the headlights made impact, a scream ripping out May’s throat as the car metal bended and broke into her skin, the glass smashing everywhere.

Peter felt the car tumble and turn over, his entire body aching and his nose dripping blood before he blacked out. The last thing he saw were a pair of paramedics pulling him out the wreckage . . . 

—————————————

When Peter woke up he was laying on an uncomfortable and cold bed. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit and as he tried to sit up, he almost fainted from the sudden pain in his head. It felt like his skull was splitting in two and each time he moved his head, his vision would blur. Peter laid his head back on the bed with a groan.

He tried to remember how he got here. On this bed, exactly. He faintly remembered being locked up in a dark cell but as soon as the thought came, it went again. 

The door to his room opened, the metal clanging and echoing around in Peter’s head until he felt ready to pass out again. 

“You are up,” a man dressed in all black said with a heavy accent. He didn’t sound exactly pleased as he walked over to where Peter was laying, his head still reeling. “Can you stand?”

Peter didn’t reply, trying to get rid of the overwhelming feeling that he was about to be sick. 

“I said: can you stand, boy?” The man said again, voice getting louder and more frustrated. Peter shook his head, pretty sure he was going green as he did so. It felt like someone had stabbed him in the head twenty times.

The man whistled for company outside the door and before Peter knew it, two other men dressed in black yanked him off the bed and started half walking, half dragging him out the door. Peter groaned, his feet stumbling along before collapsing, letting the men do the heavy lifting. 

They dragged him down several corridors, each new twist and turn looking the same with its cold atmosphere and grey, concrete walls. After what felt like years, they finally reached a large, red metal door. One of the men knocked twice before the door opened to a brightly lit room where a metal chair was placed in the centre. They threw Peter in, locking on restraints before standing back in a menacing position with their guns raised. 

“Stand down,” another man called as he walked in. He was dressed the same as the others yet Peter sensed an air of superiority about him. His accent was thick and his hair was thinning as he stood before Peter.

Peter seriously wished he didn’t throw up on this man’s shoes.

“Welcome back agent,” the man nodded curtly at him. “What is your physical status?”

He tried to move his head but the wave of nausea hit him like a sack of bricks. “Not. . . good.” Peter mumbled out, his words garbling as he replied.

“You will recover soon,” the man crossed his arms over his chest. “Give it time.”

“What. . . happened?”

“You went out for a mission and you were injured. No long lasting damages were suffered though. You should make a full recovery.”

Peter wanted to nod his head to show he understood but the pain was building up. He closed his eyes, trying to drown out the increasing feeling of being sick.

“Do you remember anything unusual?” The man’s tone changed like he was moving into a borderline interrogative voice. 

Peter tried to think. Apart from his name, nothing came to mind. It was like someone had built a wall up in his mind and as much as he tried to peer through the cracks or knock it down, it held steady. 

“No.”

“Good,” the man seemed pleased as he turned back to the men with guns. “This one was a success, put him back in his room until the nausea has passed.”

Everything else was a blur as the men lifted him up by his armpits, dragging him back through the concrete maze of walls before throwing him back down on the cold bed he’d woken up on.

Peter threw up the second they left the room.

——————————————

The nausea and pain passed in little under a week. After days of laying on the cold bed in agony, being deposited food every meal time, Peter had finally woken up feeling refreshed and stronger. He’d discovered a lot on the day he’d recovered: namely that he was an agent for HYDRA and that his recent mission had left him with temporary amnesia which blocked his memories of the base.

Peter settled into life as a HYDRA agent with ease. With his powers, it took little to no effort to win every single fight between himself and his fellow peers. He was already showing promise to be one of the strongest HYDRA had.

He never doubted HYDRA, fitting in with the other agents around his age as they trained and studied HYDRA’s past, getting told that they were the future. 

“Heil HYDRA,” the agents called out before sitting down and starting their dinner meal. The canteen was large and cold, with metal benches that matched the concrete walls of a bleak colour. 

Peter was wedged between two boys; he was sure one was called Jon and the other was something like Christopher. They ate in silence until the Jon boy began to shake his head, viciously slapping his head.

“Get out! Get out!” He screamed, making Peter jump as he stared at the boy with confusion.

“What’s wrong?” Peter yelled at the boy, trying to stop him from slapping his head again. The boy was crying by now, fat tears rolling down his cheeks as he tried to hit himself, his wrists being held down by Peter.

“Just leave him,” the Christopher guy sighed, still eating his meal as if someone wasn’t freaking out a seat away.

“What?” Peter turned his head towards the blonde haired boy on his other side. His enhanced strength was enough to keep Jon’s hand from hitting his head anymore, the cries of “get out” still bubbling out of his mouth.

“The guards will get him in 3, 2, 1,” Christopher mumbled over his food as two men dressed in black reached their table. They pitched Jon out of his seat before dragging the screaming boy away. Peter watched in shock as the cries echoed down the hall before they were silenced.

“What? What was that? Is he okay?” Peter frowned, looking at Christopher with complete disgust. 

The boy just shrugged. “He was weak.”

“Weak? How?”

“Poor little Jon there has been plagued with fake memories,” Christopher stated with no care. “He’s been suffering for months now. I’m sure if he goes in the Mind Swirler one more time, his brain will just go to mush.”

“The Mind what?” 

“The Mind Swirler, you know.” Christopher frowned at him like Peter was missing something huge.

“I don’t know what you are on about.”

“Ah,” Christopher snapped his fingers. “You’re the new guy, you’ve been here for what 7 months now?”

“6 and a half, yeah.”

“You haven’t suffered the fake memories yet. You will but you still got time before the Mind Swirl wears off.”

“What are you on about?” Peter stared at the boy like he’d grown two heads. Mind Swirl? Fake memories? What had even happened 5 minutes with that Jon boy?

“Basically,” Christopher sighed like he was already done with the conversation. “HYDRA rebirths you and to do so, they put you under the machine we call the Mind Swirler. It blocks out the memories of your past life so you can be completely committed to their cause— genius really.”

“And the fake memories?”

“They’re little snippets from the life you left that plagues you. They normally come back when the Mind Swirl starts to fade and the barrier breaks down.”

“And that other boy, he gets them a lot?” Peter frowned, remembering how the boy had screamed and the sound of his hand hitting his head.

Christopher shrugged. “Almost every 2 days for the last few months. He tried hiding it for a while but it’s obvious because it weakens you.”

“How?”

“Well, would you like to remember things from a life you no longer live? You see that boy over there?” He points to an older boy with buzzcut hair. “He hears a woman singing before he goes to sleep, every now and then.” He points to a girl with blonde hair tied up. “She hears the sound of a baby crying. I kicked her ass one time at training because she got this glassy look in her eye and froze up as the fake memory hit when we were fighting.”

“So they distract you basically?” 

“Basically, yeah. And that makes them dangerous. They’re controllable for a while but then they become too much, too frequent. That’s when you get Mind Swirled again to get you back to your best self.”

“I don’t think i was Mind Swirled as you say,” Peter shook his head.

“You wake up with nausea and a head splitting ache one day?”

“Yeah,” Peter frowned, remembering the pain.

“You were Mind Swirled,” Christopher claps his shoulder.

“So . . . what do you see?” Peter asks. He tries to mentally envision memories but just like the boy said, there was a barrier that stopped him. Peter guessed it did keep him focused; his entire life revolved around HYDRA and being the best agent for them, with no distractions of other factors coming into play.

A strange look comes across Christopher’s face, like he was trying to see something but came up short. “Nothing. I came out of the Mind Swirler only a week ago.”

“Oh,” Peter looked down at his uneaten food. “Was it your first time?”

“I’m pretty sure it was my second but i can’t be too sure.”

Peter nodded, losing motivation to carry on the conversation. He didn’t speak to Christopher again, instead keeping his head down as they retired for the night and avoiding the boy whenever they trained.

He never did see Jon again, either.

———————————————

The one year anniversary had just passed when Peter was dragged from training to a large room with only one singular chair in the middle of it. The men in black restrained him to it before walking out without a word. At this point, Peter knew better than to question his superiors. So, instead, he sat there and waited.

A man dressed in black, thinning hair on his head and a scowl on his face, walked in. His hands were clasped before him and he seemed to stare down at Peter like he could see his soul.

“We have a mission for you, agent.” The man stated, watching Peter intently. Peter tried not to squirm or show joy at the words; he’d been waiting for his first mission for months— everyone knew he was ready.

“I will accept with any cost,” he repeated what he’d been trained to say, nodding his head slightly. The restraints were pressing into his skin, drawing blood, but he didn’t care. His first mission!

“This will be a covert operation, agent.” The man glared at him before detailing the mission. Peter listened intently, soaking up all the information needed.

His mission was plain and simple: infiltrate the Avengers. Earth’s Mightiest Hero’s had technology and blueprints that HYDRA wanted to get their hands on. His mission was to get in, help HYDRA get in and then get out.

“How do you know the Avengers will accept me into their ranks?” Peter had frowned.

A sadistic smirk wound its way onto the man’s face. “Simple; you’re already an Avenger.”

After a year of little facts about his life previous, Peter learnt more than he’d wanted within the next few hours. He was shown pictures of people and told stories about the Avengers, trying to remind him of who he’d been.

Peter stared at a picture of him and a chubby Asian kid, both wearing smiles and pointing at the camera. It was like looking at someone else’s life, he didn’t remember any of these details. The word ‘Ned’ ran into his head for a second before running out again. He had no memory of this event but he felt his chest open up with the feeling of loss like he missed this person, even if he had no idea who he was. 

The man with thinning hair drilled Peter until the boy/ agent felt like he really truly had lived this life of Peter Parker. There could be no doubt about who Peter is otherwise the Avengers wouldn’t accept him in.

“And May Parker was?”

“My Aunt.” Peter replies with no emotion, the information programmed into his head.

“Your school was?”

“Midtown Tech. I attended with my best friend Ned Leeds and had a bully named Flash Thompson.”

“And Tony Stark was?”

“My mentor yet all information leads up to sharing a more . . . fatherly relationship.”

“And where have you been for the past year?”

“I don’t remember.”

“I believe you could be ready,” the man nodded for whistling for someone outside the door. The boy from dinner several months ago, Christopher stalks in with a frown. He stands beside the man, sleeves rolled up like he was ready to fight.

“You may be able to play the part. Now you need to look the part.”

Peter had barely time to react before Christopher stepped forward, fist raised, as he was punched in the jaw.

——————————————

“There will be no failure,” the thinning haired man glared at Peter. They were sitting in the back of a van, waiting to enact the beginning of their plan. Operation: Infiltrate the Avengers was underway.

“I will not fail you,” Peter promised. His face was still sore and he could feel the blood Christopher had smeared over his face, caking up and crusting on his cheek. 

“If the Avengers begin to doubt you, remember the protocol?”

Peter nodded. “I phone you to stage a false attack. I’m to be presented as a victim.”

The doors to the van open, revealing a dirty and foul smelling alley. Peter hears the noise of the busy streets surrounding them, a sense of familiarity hitting him. Even the alley looks familiar with its litter and smells of pee, like a memory so far lodged in Peter’s head that he wasn’t sure if it was real or false.

“Heil HYDRA,” the man whispered as Peter shakily stood up from the van. He hadn’t eaten in several hours to make the story more believable and he could already feel a wave of fatigue hitting him. He stumbled out onto the street.

“Heil HYDRA,” he repeats as the van doors close and the plan is finally enacted. 

Peter looks around the street, breathing in the fresh air. The day is bitterly cold, with him dressed inappropriately for the weather, and he can’t help but feel a wave of shivers run down his body. Despite this, there was something glorious about the freshness. A year held underground in a base no one knew about left no room for open air and outside noises. 

The streets were busy and the people walking around were cold and uncaring but Peter finds comfort in the freedom of walking down the streets. 

He pauses before entering the Police Department, feet trembling on the icy pavement with no socks or shoes for protection. He was pretty sure his toes were turning blue but Peter ignored it.

HYDRA said no failures. 

Peter shook his head one final time, pulling on his game face before stumbling into the Police Department with an air of desperation and fatigue. 

It was time to act the shit out of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> right so i'm not sure if i made it clear about what HYDRA does?? i was writing it and what i was saying made sense to myself but i wasn't sure if it made sense to an opinion outside of myself??
> 
> so basically HYDRA takes in lots of younger teens and brainwash them (to which the agents call being Mind Swirled as it messes up your brain) to forget the memories of the past life. this means that they're 100% focused on being a HYDRA agent.
> 
> but after a while, the affects of the brainwashing/ blocking memories wears off just a little bit, resulting in people seeing small flashes of their life pre-HYDRA. they don't know who the people in the 'fake memories' are but they just know they were important to them once (i was thinking the boy who heard a woman singing was hearing his mum sing him to sleep and the girl who heard a baby cry was thinking of a younger sibling as a baby)
> 
> and when the 'fake memories' get bad and starts messing with the HYDRA kids abilities to focus, they're brainwashed again to forget the past memories.
> 
> rip Jon 
> 
> i wasn't sure if this was clear, my brain is kinda mush after endgame so i just wanted to outline my plot whoops
> 
> don't post endgame spoilers in the comments but if u wanna rant to me about it, go to my endgame story and hit up the comments there :)))))


	11. Mission Complete

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh i'm so sorry this took AGES to do! After Endgame i literally had writers block for a while and then i have exams soon so i've been trying to juggle writing with studying. Ugh, excuses, excuses, excuses! 
> 
> Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

“Has anyone gotten word from Tony lately?” Rhodey asked the rest of the Avengers as he sat down on one of the sofas. He heard his leg braces whirr and makes noises as he moved, a constant reminder of what he’d lost.

“Not recently,” Natasha admitted, sitting forward more as she frowned.

“Is this a cause for concern?” Sam made a face as he walked in, holding a glass of juice. “Surely the whole point of going off the grid involves contacting us less?”

“Yeah,” Rhodey admitted, a frown still on his face. “But Tones was calling daily with updates and asking about any advancements we made in tracking down HYDRA. It seems rather . . . odd that he hasn’t called in 2 days.”

“He could just be spending time with the kid,” Clint suggested.

“I agree with Rhodey,” Steve spoke up, a contemplative thought on his face. “This does strike as odd, especially considering we know Tony. Even off grip at the Safe House, Tony would try to remain involved. It doesn’t make sense why he’d cut off contact.”

“You aren’t suggesting?” Bruce trailed off, looking rather alarmed.

“Wait, what’s being suggested?” Clint seemed more involved now, looking confused as his eyes darted around the group of friends.

“I think we need to visit the Safe House,” Rhodey spoke with urgency.

“I think so too,” Steve nodded, a look of fear getting caught in his eyes.

Everyone had a funny feeling about this.

——————————————

Peter stood with an unamused expression as he watched Tony Stark through the glass cell the man had been thrown into. He was crumpled up on the floor, the effects of the gas still working. Peter just stood there and stared at the unconscious man as if that would wake him up faster. A part of Peter wanted him to wake up whilst another part, a darker albeit more scared part, wished he never would.

His mind had been feeling foggy ever since he’d completed his mission. Sure, he hadn’t managed to destroy the Avengers but he’d helped to capture the great Iron Man. That was enough of a win in Peter’s mind.

“You did good, kid”, the words cut into his skull like a knife, making Peter shake his head and step a step back. He growled, curling his hands into fists and biting down on his lip until it bled. After over a year of untainted servitude, it seemed that the fake-memories had finally begun to appear. They’d started happening that night before HYDRA had broken in and Peter’s mission had been declared complete. 

He’d phoned Ned, saying goodbye, as the fake-memories of days spent laughing and playing had resurfaced.

“You did good, kid.”

Peter slammed a hand into his temple, already feeling a bruise form as he hit it again. He needed to clear his mind. He needed for those fake-memories to go away. They were only damaging his ability to help HYDRA.

The body before him stirred as Tony Stark let out a groan, his legs twitching as his hands raised to his head. Peter watched as he pulled himself up, breath coming out sharp as he flexed his tired muscles. Tony ran a hand down his face, massaging his temples for a second. When he finally seemed to notice that he was locked in a cage, Peter couldn’t help but smirk at the look of pure terror flitted across his features.

And then the man spotted him. Tony rushed to his feet, slamming into the glass wall with a wild look in his eyes.

“Pete! Kid, oh shit are you okay? I’m going to get us out of here, don’t worry Pete. Okay? I think HYDRA got us but i don’t want you to be scared. Okay?”

Peter let out a dry chuckle, rolling his eyes at Tony’s obvious fear for him. He watched as Tony’s expression melted from worry to confusion to pain.

“I don’t think i’m the one who needs to be scared,” Peter replied with a cocky grin. He liked to watch as Tony squirmed.

“Pete. . .” Tony trailed off, his eyes wide and full of torture. “What’s going on?”

“Haven’t you guess it by now?” Peter sighed dramatically, ignoring the small part of his brain that was yelling at him that this was wrong. “I would’ve thought the fact that i’m not in a cell and you are— oh and don’t forget the uniform,” he points to the clear HYDRA symbol on his sleeve. “Would’ve made it obvious by now.”

“No, no,” Tony shook his head wildly, something unreadable in his eyes. “This isn’t happening. God, this isn’t happening.”

“Who would’ve thought!” Peter teased. “Tony Stark being unable to take a hard-to-swallow pill.”

“Peter, please!” Tony pounded his hands on the glass, urgency in his voice. “Listen to me kid! This isn’t you! I know this isn’t you! You know it too! HYDRA has taken you and they hurt you, turning you into whatever this is! You need to listen to me Peter.”

A flash of images danced across his eyes. They were walking down a corridor, Tony placing his arm around Peter with a tight smile. “You did good, kid.” Pride. Happiness.

Fake. Peter reminded himself, shaking his head. That wasn’t real anymore, only HYDRA was real. 

“Peter,” Tony tried again, “listen, please! HYDRA has compromised you—“

“HYDRA has allowed me to be my best self!” Peter spat.

“You already were your best self! Tony yelled, voice raising in octaves slightly. “You were the best goddamn kid i’ve ever met! Everything about you was good, kid.”

Peter was about to reply when the doors behind him opened and the balding man with the mean scowl walked in. There was a slight tug on his lips, making him look almost amused. He stopped beside Peter, giving Tony a curt nod.

“You are finally awake,” Peter’s superior spoke with a heavy accent. Peter didn’t know his name— he wasn’t allowed to know anyones names. All he had to know was that when they made an order, he had to follow it.

“You bastard!” Tony yelled, slamming his hands on the glass in anger. “What did you do to my kid— what did you do to him??!”

The superior let out a chuckle, the sound sending goosebumps over Peter’s skin. “We let him see his true potential, Stark. Something our agent is grateful for, correct?”

Peter nodded, eyes still glued to Tony.

“You did good, kid.” He bit his lip as the sound of Tony’s voice ran through his head again. Peter could feel blood fill his mouth but he didn’t care. He couldn’t show weakness in front of his superior — and the fake-memories were definitely considered a weakness.

They were in the lab again, Peter realised as he blinked. The scene of Tony locked up and his superior breathing down his neck faded away as a new memory resurfaced. Despite the many days and hours Peter had spent in the lab with Tony Stark during his covert mission, Peter knew this memory was different. This was from before.

They were in the lab, Tony working on something with a look of concentration as Peter twiddled his pencil around in his hand. It felt like someone else was controlling him as he opened up his mouth, the words escaping from his lips without thought.

“Mr Stark, do you ever get scared?”

Tony looked up from his work with a frown, eyes only on Peter. “What?”

Peter felt himself shake his head, embarrassment filling him. “Uhh— sorry, forget i asked. Of course you don’t; you’re Iron Man, duh! Sorry, that was silly of me.”

“Kid,” Tony shuffled his chair closer so their knees were touching. He looked Peter right in the eye was an air of vulnerability and compassion. “Of course i get scared. I get scared all the time.”

“R-really?” 

“Yeah kid, everyone gets scared. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“W-what are you scared of?” Peter felt his face pull into a frown as he nibbled on lip.

“Well,” Tony leaned back in his chair with a contemplative thought. “I’m scared of space, for one thing— curtsey of the aliens who invaded New York a few years ago. I’m scared of messing up— not failing because you can work from failure. I’m scared of making so much damage it is irreversible.”

Tony leaned forward in his chair, placing a hand around the back of Peter’s neck and looking him in the eye. “Mostly though, i’m scared about losing those that i love. Namely, you, Pete.”

“Namely, you.”

The words dance around in his head as the memory fades away like a cloud of dust, his eyes focusing back on the scene before him. The fake-memory left, leaving behind a feeling of coldness in his chest as he watched Tony’s manic and terrified face through the glass cell.

The superior had been talking whilst Peter zoned out, his voice calm yet deadly. “. . . And if you don’t comply, we’ll have to kill you.”

Tony’s face scrunched up, spitting at the glass. “I’ll never do as you ask,” he growled.

The superior just sighed like he’d expected that reply. “Then you better start praying Stark.” He began to turn away, waiting at the door and giving Peter a pointed look. “Agent.”

Peter gave Tony one last glance, his heart feeling heavy as he met the elder man’s wide eyes. 

“You did good, kid.”

“Namely, you.”

The words entangled in his mind, the sense of loss filling him as he turned away from Tony in his cell, walking towards the superior by the door. The man placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder once they were in close enough distance, the sound of Tony’s yells and thumping on the glass getting louder.

“Don’t hurt him! I swear to God, if you hurt him! Peter! Peter, this isn’t you— please kid just remember that this isn’t who you are! Don’t touch him! Stop touching him! Get your disgusting hands off my kid! Or i swear—“

The doors closed on Tony’s yells, the silence of the corridor outside feeling far more heart-breaking than what Tony was screaming in the other room. 

“You did well agent,” the superior nodded before walking off. Peter made to follow, shaking his head of the fake-memories as he tried to convince himself what he was doing was right.

He tried not to think of Tony’s yells or the panicked look on his face. He tried not to feel guilty.

Mostly though, Peter tried not to feel as if he was leaving a part of his heart and soul in the room behind him.


	12. Where's Tony and Peter?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hate filler chapters but they're vital to keep the plot moving so here ya go yuck

It was never a good sign when you approached a house that should be full of life, only for the front door to left open, windows smashed and no noise coming from inside. The Avengers knew this as they approached the Safe House that Peter and Tony should be hidden in, frowns deepening on their faces as they took in the deserted aura of the place.

“Alright,” Steve told the others as he raised his shield. “Search the place for Tony and Peter.”

Nat walked in first, gun held up, with Rhodey in his War Machine armour shortly after. Clint walked around the perimeter of the Safe House for any evidence of what could’ve happened whilst Bruce stayed on the ship so not to go Green. Wanda and Vision had decided to stay at the Compound, still following leads on possible HYDRA cases.

“The place is empty,” Natasha spoke into the comms, walking back to join Steve where he loitered by the doorway. “Rhodey, anything?”

“Both Tony and the kid’s rooms are empty. All their stuff is still there but there’s no sign of them.”

“They’re not outside either,” Clint walked back to where the group were huddled in the doorway.

“The broken window . . .” Steve walked over to where the glass was smashed. “This was broken from the outside in.”

“Guys,” Nat spoke up, waiting for the others to join her in the conjoined kitchen to living room. She held an empty gas canister in her hand. “Sleeping gas.”

“Shit,” Steve frowned. “We’re too late.”

“Are there any clues?” Clint pocketed his arrows, a frown on his face. “Anything to indicate where they could be?”

“If it was a sneak attack, how could there be any possible clues?” Rhodey sounded pained, his thoughts on his best friend a kid who was like his nephew. Who knew if they were still alive if HYDRA had them? One thing Rhodey did know was that Tony would die in order to protect Peter; it made him both proud and worried about his friend.

“I found something,” Natasha was standing beside the window, looking at the wooden windowpane, her fingers running over a carved message. She guessed it was a couple of days old, the wood having been not too recently etched onto. 

“What is it?” Steve walked over, looking down at Nat’s confused expression as her fingers still laid over the words carved.

“It’s co-ordinates,” she removes her hand to show the carved in numbers and letters of a location. “Someone carved it in.”

“Who did it?” Clint moved forward to look, taking a picture of it on his phone for later reference. 

“Well, i doubt HYDRA would’ve done it,” Rhodey frowned, arms crossed.

“How would Tony or Peter of known the co-ordinates? Let alone have time to chip it into the wood?”

“I think we might be heading towards a trap,” Steve cleared his throat, holding his belt in his infamous way.

“Well then what are we waiting for?” Rhodey cut in, already walking out the door.

“Bruce, fire up the Quinjet,” Steve spoke into the comms to the waiting man. “And contact Wanda and Vision; we need to go save our friends.”

——————————————

Tony was scheduled to die tomorrow morning. After hours of interrogation, the inventor had refused to say anything. Instead, he’d spent the time yelling at the agents for what they’d done to Peter, his tirades tiring out the superiors until they decided it would be easier to just execute him instead.

“Congratulations agent,” the balding man had whispered to Peter once the doors to Tony’s cell had once again been shut to cut out all his yells and curses. “The task is being granted to you.”

“You're giving me the honour of killing Tony Stark?” Peter had been shocked, trying to wrap his head around the idea. 

“It is your mission after all,” the balding man had shrugged. “Do you accept the honour?”

“Of course,” Peter had nodded, not wasting a second in replying. With this victory, he would be the best of the agents currently at their base. Not everyone was given the chance to kill the great Iron Man.

That conversation had been several hours ago with Peter wide awake, laying in his bunk and staring at the ceiling. The room looked just like the cell he so faintly recalled from when he was first brought to HYDRA. A feeling of fear, panic and loss consumed him for one second before the sensation evaporated like a cloud of dust in his hands. He couldn’t seem to grasp it even for a moment.

His feet itched to move and pace the room but Peter forced himself to stay where he was. He wasn’t dumb, he knew HYDRA monitored his room; he could see the tiny camera in the corner of his room. As long as he laid there, still, his internal struggle would go unnoticed. 

Peter closed his eyes for a second, the image of a smiling woman with brown hair floating around under his eyelids. He blinked his eyes open, biting down on his lip. Peter felt blood dribble down his chin as he bit harder and harder but he couldn’t seem to shake the image of the woman. He knew she was important but it was hard to understand it when all emotions towards her felt faint and lost.

He wondered if he should tell the superiors about his fake memories. They’d be able to clean him up and get him back to his untouched self. But for reasons he couldn’t explain, he liked the flashes of fake memories that danced across his mind. The smiling woman, Tony’s gestures of pride, that Ned kid laughing, a teenage girl rolling her eyes, Rhodey’s hair ruffles . . . they made him feel safe.

And then they were gone and something cold filled his chest.

Get it together, he told himself. This wasn’t how a HYDRA agent should think— and that was what he was now. Tomorrow he was killing Tony Stark, nothing more to it. He’d become one of the best agents HYDRA had ever seen and he would live his life in complete servitude. Just like he should.

But a HYDRA agent wouldn’t leave clues at an abduction scene. He tried to get the intrusive thought out of his head but it stuck there like glue. He’d scratched down the co-ordinates of the base on the windowpane and there was nothing he could do about it now. Peter tried to tell himself it had been done to bring the Avengers here; to finally finish them. But a smaller, quieter, part of his brain knew that was a lie. 

He’d woken up from a nightmare induced fake memories dream about those few weeks he’d been locked up in a cell at HYDRA. Peter had remembered the feeling of starvation, his bones too weak to move and his skin feeling like it had been stretched across his face. He’d remembered the agonising feeling of loneliness and how quiet the cell had been; the 4 concrete walls looking they had been closing in with each second.

Peter had woken up scared and confused, the nightmare and memories fading away like they had never had even happened. Tony had been asleep on the sofa, book on his chest, when Peter had stumbled into the kitchen area with an ashen face and sweat matting down his hair. 

It hadn’t been a conscious decision as he’d grabbed a knife and started carving the co-ordinates into the wood. It wasn’t like Peter had thought much of it: if he had, he wouldn’t have done it. Who cared what HYDRA had done to him in those first few weeks? He was a part of them now.

But the memory of despair had lingered and he’s sketched the numbers and letters into the wood with a sense of security that he was sure was traitorous to HYDRA’s cause.

Peter shook his head as he tried to drift off. He forced himself to forget what he’d done, the co-ordinates he’d left behind. Tomorrow he would kill Tony Stark. And prove himself to be HYDRA’s best agent. Regardless of his past.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.


	13. Execution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah sorry it has taken me longer to update lately, i've got exams soon and i've been trying to focus on them for a while. I'm gonna keep updating since this story is so near to the end but it might not be daily updates :(((
> 
> Enjoy :)

Peter wasn’t sure why he felt nervous as he held the gun in his hand. He stood in the middle of what had been dubbed the ‘execution room’ simply because the walls of this room had been spray painted with blood so many times that the stains had become impossible to clean. The room was completely white (apart from the ever present blood and brain stains), the walls white and the floor white. There was nothing in it apart from one singular metal chair and the one way glass window.

Peter stood in the centre, in front of the chair, as he waited for Tony to be brought in. He knew there were agents on the other side of the window, taking notes and watching with excitement over the death of an Avenger. 

The gun in Peter’s hand felt heavy, the metal feeling incredibly overpowering as if his arm was being dragged down to the floor. After a year of brutal and senseless killing (because this wasn’t Peter’s first execution), it was only now that the weapon in his hand felt more like a burden than a gift.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.

Peter’s heart was thumping hard in his chest, the echo of his heartbeat feeling like a mini earthquake each time. His mouth was dry and each time he tried to swallow, he almost gagged at how it was like his tongue was sandpaper. Why was he suddenly so nervous?

The door opened and Tony was ushered in. He’d probably been stunned or drugged in some way because he wasn’t fighting as two of HYDRA’s agents dragged him in, his legs and arms tied up. A bag was over his face and Peter tried not to imagine what his expression would be like underneath. Was Tony scared? His heartbeat increased significantly at that thought.

“You did good, kid,” the fake memory reappeared as Tony was thrown into the metal chair, restraints holding his already tied arms and legs to the chair. Peter shook his head, biting the inside of his lip to keep himself grounded.

Now was not a time for sentiment; he was about to carry out an execution, dammit.

The bag on Tony’s head is pulled off, the man’s face underneath all bruised and bloody with fresh cuts and dried blood. It takes Tony a second to get his bearings, eyes focusing first on the agents placed around the room and the superior by the door. And then he spots Peter.

“Pete!” He tugs on the restraints, eyes wide and full of an emotion Peter couldn’t place. “Kid, what . . . ?”

Peter didn’t normally care about looking into someones eyes when they died, hell he’d done it enough times to not be phased by it, but there was something about looking into Tony’s eyes that made him never want to pull the gun up. 

But he was a HYDRA agent, so he did just that. It felt like his arm was going to break under the weight of the gun, raising it slowly so the bullet would go clean through Tony’s forehead. He tried not to show any emotion on his face, biting his cheek so hard he could feel his mouth fill with blood. Peter’s hand started to shake but he forced himself to hold it together. 

He’d killed many, why was this any different?

Tony seemed to realise what was going on now, the barrel of a gun placed right in front of him and his very own kid standing behind it, finger on the trigger. His eyes were wide and he tried pulling on his restraints again.

“Kid, stop! Stop Peter! This isn’t you! Don’t do it okay, i don’t want you to regret this later on.”

“What would there be to regret?” Peter’s voice was monotonous, his teeth covered in blood as he spoke, his cheek still bleeding heavily.

“Peter this isn’t you—“

“You’ve said that already,” Peter rolled his eyes, gun still trained to Tony’s forehead.

The superior walked over, a small smile on his face as he stopped beside Peter. “Any last words Stark? Before you crumple at the hands of HYDRA.”

“Yeah,” Tony snarled. “Screw you! How dare you twist my kid like this! Does HYDRA get off on stealing children and then making them kill those that love them? Kill me, whatever, but let Pete go!”

“Ah, the brave last words of the invincible Iron Man,” the superior began to take a step back, face lit up with pure excitement. “Ready whenever you are, agent.”

Peter nodded, his finger flexing over the trigger. The blood was filling his mouth up as he continued to bite down. A part of his brain was screaming no, making his arm begin to shake slightly.

“Peter,” Tony’s voice was more sincere now. He spoke quieter; the words were only for Peter to hear. “I just want you to know that i don’t blame you, okay? In however long it takes for your brain to break free of HYDRA’s lies— and it will because you’re too damn strong for HYDRA to steal you forever— i don’t want you to feel guilty about this. I would never hate you, not even because of this. I love you kid, i don’t want this on your conscience okay? I won’t ever blame you.”

A lump rose in Peter’s throat, his eyes focused on Tony’s brown ones. One second he was standing in the execution room, gun raised, and then the next second, he was sitting in medical with Tony laying in a hospital bed with bandages on his head. The fake memory looked so real, many of Tony’s injuries looking similar to the current ones.

Tony had a small smile on his face but Peter could feel tears running down his cheeks, his eyes feeling tight like he’d been sobbing.

“I’m so sorry Mr Stark!” Peter felt himself say, voice breaking as he did so.

“Kid,” Tony had shaken his head, one of his bruised hands reached out to ruffle Peter’s hair. “Don’t be.”

“But you’re hurt because of me!” Peter could remember the feeling of anguish; the guilt.

Tony had sighed, a look of sadness having flitted across his face. “No i'm not Peter, don’t blame yourself.”

“Y-yes you are!” Peter more heard than felt his tone rising, the hysteria having gotten a grip on him. “You jumped in the way of the blast to save me— you shouldn’t have Mr Stark!”

A look had overcome Tony’s face, his eyes having gone darker and his tone became more dangerous. “Hey, never say that. I will always jump in the way to save you kiddo— always. I don’t care if you don’t like it; these are just facts, you hear me? I’m not hurt because of you Peter.”

“I would never have been able to forgive myself if you had . . .”

“But i didn’t, so you can relax Pete. And if i ever did, you know, i wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. Ever. I would never be able to hate you or blame you if i did . . . you know.”

Tony’s hand had stayed in his hair, caressing his locks as if Peter had been the one to need comforting not the other way around. 

Peter jolted out the fake memory with a shuddering breath, blinking in the situation around him. The white walls and blood stains, the gun in his hand, Tony’s unblinking and unfaltering eyes. There was no hate or resentment in the brown orbs, just pure love that couldn’t be phased by the kid pointing a gun at his head.

The agents around the room and the superior were getting angsty, Peter could tell. He could pick up their increased heartbeats as they waited for Tony Stark’s brains to decorate the walls. He could tell they were agitated from their short puffs every few seconds as they all watched Peter with such intensity like he was just a lab rat.

There was something deeply unsettling about the events occurring (something even worse than the fact that Peter was a 16 year old about to kill a man). It felt like some sort of cruel joke was being played. And not on Tony but on him. He recalled the information he’d been given previous to his mission of infiltrating the Avengers.

The superior had asked what Tony Stark’s role in his life had been. And Peter had replied: “My mentor yet all information leads up to sharing a more . . . fatherly relationship.”

He remembered Tony’s face when he’d walked in on Peter in the hospital, the look of panic and pure relief that had just seemed to become him as he’d raced towards him. Even if he’d been lying the entire time, Peter couldn’t deny that every step of that mission had centred around Tony’s unfaltering care for him.

His love. 

He’d said he’d loved him.

Peter’s arm moved so fast he was afraid he would break it as he turned and shot three times. Tony winced as the sound of bullets rang out, the bodies of the HYDRA agents and the superior falling down to the floor. Red began to pool on the floor, the walls splattered in new ink. 

Despite the window meaning to be one way, Peter could still hear the stampede of feet running away as the other agents ran for their lives. 

“Kid?” Tony looked to be in shock as his eyes flitted from the dead bodies to Peter. The kid stepped forward, ripping off Tony’s restraints with little force.

“Come on, we need to go!” Peter’s brain felt foggy as he helped Tony to stand up. All he knew that they were in a super secret HYDRA base and he’d just killed 2 agents and a superior. Things weren’t going to turn out well.

“Kid, you back?” Tony paused, his hands on each side of Peter’s face. He seemed to be looking for any signs of the kid he knew and loved.

Peter nodded, tears welling up and his voice feeling sore. He just wanted to lay down and nap but their lives literally depended on making a move that exact second.

“God, i missed you kid,” Tony pulled him into a hug and for the first time in a year, Peter allowed himself to relax. To feel safe. Tony’s arms were tight and his body was warm, the feeling making Peter feel invincible.

But alas, he wasn’t and they were both in danger.

Peter pulled out of the hug, a look of worry on his face. “We need to leave— now!”

Tony nodded, walking over to one of the dead bodies and picking up a gun. “You know this place better than i do kid, where we gotta go.”

Peter frowned, making a mental map before shuffling towards the door. “This way, follow me.”

Sirens were ringing out in the corridors, a loud wailing noise sounding a million times louder to Peter’s sensitive ears. The lights flashed red as well, each second looking and feeling more like a horror movie. The place was deserted with Tony and Peter sneaking down empty corridors with their guns raised in a ghost town.

“I think you might’ve scared them all off,” Tony whispered as they continued further down. Judging by Peter’s mental map, they weren’t too far now. They were about to turn another corner when Peter’s spidey sense went off; it felt like a large slap down his spine, his hairs standing on end. He was about to whip around and warn Tony about danger when something sharp went into his throat.

Tony let out a yell as Peter collapsed, a dart imbedded in his skin. 

“Well, this was disappointing,” an unfamiliar voice spoke up. Another superior walked out of the shadows, his face looking nastier than the balding one Peter had met before. A large scar ran down his left cheek and he signalled for his men to surround Tony.

“I suggest you lower the gun Stark,” the superior drawled. Tony’s gun was pointed at the man’s chest whilst the superior’s gun was pointed at Peter who lay on the floor. “Unless you want to see this kids brains decorate the floor.”

Tony lowered his gun immediately, a few of the agents leaping forward to detain him. His hands were once again bound and the weapon was thrown away.

“You have me,” Tony snarled. “So let the kid go.”

The superior frowned, looking bored of this game. “You know that isn’t an option. Once we restore Parker’s mind, he’ll be one of the best agents HYDRA has to offer.”

“You mean once you brainwash him,” Tony looked ready to kill, his teeth bared as he glared at the man standing over Peter’s passed out body. The kid looked so small and fragile crumpled up on the floor. It made Tony feel sick about the mental torment he was being subjected to.

“Whatever you want to call it,” the superior smirked slightly, kicking the gun out of Peter’s small fist. “It clears his mind; it makes him who he always should be.”

“A slave to HYDRA.” Tony snarled.

The superior’s smirk grew as he mentioned for other agents to pick up Peter’s limp body. They hauled him off the ground, the teens head falling down to his chest. Tony struggled against the men holding him, desperately trying to reach out to Peter.

“Take him to the Mind Swirler,” the superior told the agents holding Peter before turning to those holding Tony. “And throw him back in his cell. Parker can carry out the execution tomorrow . . . when he’s more himself.”

Tony struggled and yelled as the men dragged him away, his hands and feet too tightly bound to do anything but wiggle and attempt to break free. “You asshole!” He screamed, desperately trying to turn his head back to where the men were dragging Peter’s limp body away. He let out a howl when he could no longer see his kid, the men turning a corner so he was out of vision was full of empty corridors and flashing lights.

They’d been so close.


	14. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is SO long sorry but hey ho it's action packed
> 
> Almost done !!!! 
> 
> I hate writing action scenes so i hope this isn't like SUPER bad whoops :////

Tony dug his feet in, trying to cause a struggle as the agents continued to drag him down the corridor. Peter was well and truly out of his sight now, probably lost in the maze of similar white walls that was this base. 

“You’re going to regret this,” Tony snarled when the digging his feet in backfired and all he got was a stubbed toe and two angry agents just grabbing his arms harder as they pushed him toward.

“You’re not really in a place to make threats,” one of the agents rolled his eyes, his accent thick and a snarl rising up on his lips. The other agent scoffed, looking more amused at Tony’s words.

“He might not be but i am,” a voice sounded behind them. A smile grew on Tony’s face as the two agents froze. He recognised that voice.

Steve Rogers was dressed up in his Captain America gear, his mask covering the top half of his face and his shield held in his hand. He didn’t look pleased as he took a step forward, the two agents having turned around now. Before they could even raise their guns, Steve threw his shield at them to knock them out.

“Oi watch it! You almost hit me!” Tony teased as the men who’d once been holding him fell to the ground.

Steve just sighed, pressing a finger to his ear as he talked into the comms. “I have Tony.” He stepped forward, looking at his friend with concern. “Are you okay?” He crouched down slightly, using his shield to cut through the shackles on Tony’s feet.

“Oh peachy, i was kidnapped by HYDRA but it’s all good. Never better actually.”

“Tony, where’s Peter?”

A frown decorated Tony’s features, something dark coming across his face. His lips pressed into a thin line as his eyebrows furrowed. “About that—“

Tony was about to speak the horrors that he still didn’t believe himself when the sound of a gun going off rang through his ears. Steve immediately raised his shield, the bullets ricocheting towards the HYDRA agents firing at them. Tony’s sleeve was pulled by Steve as the man used his shield to protect them before turning the corner and getting out of view of the shooters.

They took off down the corridor with Steve yelling into the comms that they had active shooters near their location. 

“Steve, do you have a suit?” Tony yelled as they continued to run, the odd bullet whizzing past them as they were chased. He flinched each time the sound of a gun went off. Tony couldn’t help but be acutely aware that he was extremely vulnerable without one of the Iron Man suits.

“Natasha brought one of your cases!” Steve yelled back, pulling Tony through one of the doors. It turned out to be a kitchen (who knew HYDRA could be so domestic) with the both of them hiding behind one of the counters.

“Great,” Tony panted, his chest rising up and down heavily. His wrists felt sore from the shackles still held on his hands. He let himself catch his breath, the two of them hiding behind the counter as the sound of feet ran down the corridor on the other side of the door. “And where’s Nat?”

Steve relayed the question before sighing. “She’s on her way. The rest of the team is on the search for Peter.”

“Tell them to be careful,” Tony warned, the frown returned. “The kid . . . he’s not the same?”

“What are you on about?”

“HYDRA stole Peter a year ago, they brainwashed the poor kid and then they sent him on a mission to destroy us. It was Peter who let HYDRA into the Tower and disabled FRIDAY. It was Peter who leaked the Safe House location and he orchestrated the whole getting-chased-by-a-van thing to purposely separate us.”

“He’s been compromised?” Steve looked appalled, repeating what Tony said into the comms so the rest of the Avengers could be on the alert. “Tony, where is he now?”

Tony ran a hand down his face, feeling the overwhelming to cry but forcing himself to push it down. They’d been so close. Peter had put the gun down. He’d remembered him.

“HYDRA ordered Peter to execute me; the kid was mere seconds away from putting a bullet in my skull when he got this glassy look in his eye and then before i knew it, he shot down the other members of HYDRA. We were making our own escape when you found me. Or well, our attempt of an escape.”

“You didn’t answer where he is.”

“He’s gone. They took him away to brainwash him again. And this time, i don’t know if it will be as easy to make him remember me— or us.”

“Shit,” Steve cursed.

“Language Cap,” Tony retaliated but his tone was anything but jokey. Something heavy was weighing on his heart and he felt sick to his stomach thinking about whatever Peter must be going through right now. He prayed one of the Avengers found him before he could be ‘Mind Swirled’ as the scar faced asshole had said.

Steve opened his mouth to reply but froze when the sound of the door to the kitchen opened. “Check in here for Captain America and Iron Man,” a heavy accented voice whispered to some other agents. The sound of the floorboards creaked as they entered, no doubt their guns raised. From where Tony and Steve were hiding behind one of the counters, they were out of view from where the agents stood.

They wouldn’t be in a few seconds though when the other agents walked further in and began looking around. Tony held his shackled hands out with a pointed look to Steve. As quietly as possible, Cap raised his shield and brought them down on the metal to break it.

Tony didn’t even think as he ripped off a part of his t-shirt, hand grabbing the bottle of alcohol on the shelf and stuffing the cloth into the nozzle. He mouthed the words ‘lighter’ to Steve, knowing the man kept nearly everything in his belt for a mission. The fabric of his shirt lit up in seconds with Tony throwing the bottle over towards where the agents stood.

The sudden fire was distraction enough for Steve to stand up and lob his shield at the agents, knocking them all down to the ground.

“Looks like i’m late to the party,” Natasha teased as she dropped down from the air vents. The red and heavy Iron Man suitcase was held tightly in her hands.

“Since when were the vents your preferred means of travel?” Tony frowned, ignoring the steadily growing fire only a few feet away from them. He threw the Iron Man case onto the floor, opening it up to reveal one of his suits.

“Its a result of spending too much time with Barton,” Natasha drawled with a small smirk. 

Once Tony was suited up, his comms linked in to the other Avengers, he lifted up a hand and put out the fire. “Don’t need to burn this place down before we get the kid,” he mumbled before blasting open the doors. Now he was suited up and with weapons, he could finally unleash hell on the assholes who stole and hurt his kid.

“Uhh guys, there’s a slight situation here.” Rhodey’s voice spoke over the comms. He didn’t sound too pleased but there was no panic in his tone to indicate the situation had anything to with Peter.

“What’s up honey-bear?” Tony teased as he shot an agent down in the corridor before they could shoot at Natasha. 

“I have about 50 kids here.”

“Come again?” Tony was sure he misheard.“Did you just say kids?” Clint spoke up. “Like children?”

“What else could he mean Barton,” Nat rolled her eyes. “Rhodey, what’s your location?”

“I’m a few corridors down from you; i can hear Tony’s blasters from where i’m at.”

“We’re on our way,” Steve’s deep voice commanded, taking off in the direction they knew Rhodey to be at.

The sight that beheld them when Tony, Nat and Steve reached Rhodey’s location was one that would haunt them. Just like Rhodey said, about 50 children under the ages of 12 were huddled in a large group, looking slightly terrified. There were two bodies of agents laying on the floor in front of them.

“I had to kill the assholes,” Rhodey cleared up. “Because they were threatening the kids.”

“It makes sense,” Tony frowned. “They kidnapped Pete and he was only 15; it makes sense that HYDRA are cradle snatchers.”

Steve pressed a finger to his ear, talking to someone not on the team. “Sam, we’re going to need you to send multiple quinjets to this location, we’re going to need transport for about 50 children.”

“Barton,” Tony called over the comms. “Come to Rhodey’s location, you’ll need to secure these kids safe passage out of the base.”

“What about you?” Clint spoke, the sound of his feet running echoing through the comms. 

“I’m going to find my kid.”

————————————————————

The pain was agonising. Peter’s mind was being torn apart, every memory and every feeling being ripped to sheds and then thrown away. He saw flashes of a brown haired woman, her smile lighting up her face. And then it was gone. What had he seen again? Something about brown?

He heard a man’s laugh, the words “You did good, kid,” echoing around before it became warped. The words twisted until all he heard was the messed up and disjointed jumble of sounds.

It felt like someone had taken a whisk to his brain and was stirring. It was unrelenting. It was never ending. His vision was black but Peter wasn’t sure if it was because the room was dark or because he had his eyes squeezed so tight.

There was a loud bang, Peter flinching as the noise echoed around his head and jarred his already in-pain brain. The sound of shots rang out and Peter let out a scream, the sound muffled by the mouth guard placed in his mouth.

And then there were hands in his hair. A soft voice.

“Peter, kiddo, open your eyes. You’re safe now Pete, i promise. Open your eyes Pete, please.”

The words cut through his fuzzy brain, the pain starting to swindle away. He let his face relax, the muscles feeling tight and painful as he unclenched. Peter blinked once, the harsh brightness of the lights making him cringe before his eyesight suddenly adjusted.

A man in a red and gold suit stood in front of him, his mask retracted to reveal a handsome face, a goatee and a worried look in his eyes. His hands were still in Peter’s hair, pushing the machine Peter had been attached to away.

“Thank God, are you okay kid? We’re going to get you out of here now, okay? Don’t worry, it’s all going to be okay.”

Despite the man’s reassuring tone and kind face, Peter felt on edge. Who was this man? There was a slight familiarity to him but he couldn’t seem to remember. 

“Gerroffme,” he mumbled, trying to shake the numbing feeling in his head away. It felt like he’d been napping for an extremely long time, his mind still fuzzy with sleep.

The man with the goatee ignored him, helping to pull Peter up to his feet and place his hands on his shoulders. Peter’s knees felt wobbly but he forced himself to stay upright. Even though he felt like he was still in a state of sleep, he wouldn’t mind closing his eyes and passing out for all eternity right about now. Nausea was creeping up on him and Peter would rather sleep it off.

“Come on kid, we gotta go.” The man sounded more worried now. “Can you walk?”

“Gerroffme,” Peter mumbled again, his lips feeling too heavy as he opened and closed them. His words were slurred and he could tell by the way the man’s hands were still on his shoulder and there was a frown on his face that he didn’t understand what Peter was saying. Peter tried to shove his hands off but the man just held tighter.

“Peter? Kid, can you hear me? We need to go!” 

Peter blinked, the words going in and out of his head so fast that he wasn’t even sure if he’d heard them in the first place. The nausea was getting worse, his stomach doing rolls and his mouth filling up with bile. God, he just wanted to rest. Peter’s head was still aching, his temples feeling sore and throbbing and he didn’t know who this man was. 

Another man, this time blonde and in some skintight blue suit, came up to them. He too was frowning as he approached. “Tony, we need to go. Clint’s got the kids on the Quinjets but Sam says HYDRA has sent in reinforcements.”

“We’ll be having an incoming soon,” a woman with red hair spoke in a deep voice. Peter frowned between the goatee man, the blonde guy and the red haired woman. Who were these people?

The word HYDRA sticks in his mind. That was him— right? Peter was HYDRA; that was all he remembered. It was the only memory that stuck. 

His eyes drifted to the wall opposite, the red symbol of a skull octopus standing out. HYDRA. Yes, that was who he was. And if these guys were trying to escape HYDRA . . . that meant they were bad right?

He used one of the web shooters attached to his wrist to bring one of the guns from the bodies on the floor to his awaiting hand. Peter cocked it and held it up, taking a few steps back.

“Ah shit, not again,” the goatee man sounded exasperated before raising his hands up in a placating way. “Pete put the gun down!”

“Who. Are. You?”

“My name is Tony kid, you remember me right? I’m Mr Stark kiddo. And that’s Steve,” he pointed to the blonde man. “You know, Cap— Capsicle. And you know Natasha!” He gestured to the frowning red haired woman.

“I don’t know who you are,” Peter spat; he was only lying a tiny bit. Something grated the back of his head each time the goatee guy— Tony— talked. Something told him that he did know who he was even if his mind drew up blanks.

“You know us kid, i promise when we leave here we’ll explain it all to you!”

“This is where i belong,” Peter glared, the gun trained on Tony but his eyes darting to the Steve guy and Natasha. Both of them looked on the alert and ready to attack him any second. The Tony man though, he genuinely seemed gentle. At least, towards Peter he did.

“No,” Tony shook his head, something fierce in his tone. “You don’t. You think you do but trust me Spider-Baby, you don’t.

Spider-Baby. The name sounded so familiar that Peter frowned, desperately trying to recall it. It felt like trying to reach out for smoke; the memory slipping through his fingers like it had never been there in the first place.

And then Peter’s lips were moving, a word slipping out before his brain even caught up. “Underoos,” he whispered so faintly that he was shocked Tony heard it.

“Yeah kid! Underoos! That’s you! Please, put the gun down and come with us; we’ll explain it all when you’re safe, okay?”

Slowly, Peter lowered the gun. There was something about Tony’s voice that made Peter not fear him; an itching in his mind telling him that yes, this man was safe. The look of relief on Tony’s face was worth it as Peter threw the gun away.

“Great kid, i’m so proud,” Tony smiled slightly. “Let’s go!”

“We’re too late,” the Nat woman sounded grave. “We have an incoming.” The doors burst open as twenty HYDRA agents and a superior with a red beret walked in. They were vastly outnumbering the Avengers, their guns raised and snarls on their faces.

“Look what we have here,” the superior smirked, not even flinching as Steve raised his shield and Tony’s mask snapped into place.

“You’re going down,” Steve sounded angry as his eyes roamed the twenty agents and their aimed guns. “HYDRA’s reign of terror and child trafficking ends here.”

“Mighty words Captain America,” the superior sounded far too cocky for his own good. “Especially for a man outnumbered.”

“Oh but we’ll win,” Tony’s metallic voice sounded.

“How?” The superior tilted his head in a disbelieving way. 

“Because we’re the Avengers,” Tony declared, the sound of his gauntlet firing up echoing around the room as he fired a blast at a few of the agents. Natasha raised her guns, shooting people down as Steve threw his shield around.

Peter stumbled backwards, the sounds of the fight making his head pound. His knees made him wobble, the loud noises getting to him before he tripped over. He saw the superior duck and attempt to avoid the fight as Peter curled up into a ball and tried to block the loud sounds from bursting his sensitive eardrums.

When all the agents were down, Tony retracted himself from his suit and turned to where Peter was curled up. The kid looked so innocent and broken that Tony felt his need to protect him flare up. 

“Alright, now we NEED to go,” Natasha frowned, reloading her gun and stepping through the sea of bodies.

“Tony, get Peter and lets leave.” Steve demanded as he followed Nat’s lead. They should’ve left this base like yesterday.

“Pete, come on,” Tony stepped forward as he neared Peter’s shaking body. It was obvious the ‘Mind Swirler’ had messed Peter up but Tony prayed it was reversible.

“The fight is over kid,” he was only a step away from Peter now when he heard a shuffle to his left. The superior had managed to evade the fight, having hid behind a metal tray that Tony was sure had once held torture weapons. There was a gun in his hand as he stood up from his spot. 

“All of this,” the superior snarled, his anger making his accent sound thicker as he held his gun up. Tony became suddenly aware that he was no longer in his Iron Man suit and Steve and Nat had left the room. “For one boy. Why?”

It felt like a nightmare as Tony realised the gun wasn’t aimed at him. It was aimed at Peter.

“Because,” Tony’s voice was low as he stood staring at the superior’s gun aimed at Peter’s shaking head. He knew what was going happen and he knew what he would do when it did. He bent his knees ready to jump. “You asshole, he’s my son.”

The bang of the bullet being shot from the gun was a sound that Tony had heard repeatedly since the events of Afghanistan. But this time it was different. The deadly weapon he’d once designed what felt like millions of years ago was threatening his son. That was something Tony could never allow.

He didn’t think nor care about the fact that he wasn’t in his suit as he jumped in the way of the bullet, a white hot pain spreading through him as he landed on top of Peter. Blood seeped out of the wound like a waterfall, surrounding him and enveloping him in warmth. Tony could hear a scream erupt from Peter’s lips but he had no strength to push himself off his kid as the pain washed over him.

He heard the familiar voice of Steve yelling his name, the bang of another gun being shot before the thud of a body falling to the fall echoed in his ears. He heard screaming and someone dragging his body away from the lumpy warmth of Peter. 

“Stay awake— don’t close your eyes,” a voice demanded.

But in true Tony Stark fashion, he ignored them. The safe darkness of sleep swept over him, the pain and screams dissolving into nothing.


	15. Wakanda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter and it was SO long that i decided to break it down so i'll post the second half tomorrow as a more of an epilogue. Its all been written and i'm almost done with this story!!
> 
> Thank you so much for the nice comments and for following through on this angsty story! I'd been debating whether to write a HYDRA Peter story for ages so all the support has been so lovely and really amazing!!! 
> 
> Enjoy :))))))

Peter couldn’t stop shaking as he wrapped his arms around his knees, bringing them closer towards his chest. Dried tears were stuck to his face as he struggled to breath; his chest felt constricted and no matter what he did, he couldn’t shake the thought of Tony’s body laying on top of him out of his head.

They were currently on the Quinjet, the HYDRA base reduced to nothing but ash as they flew off to an unknown location. When Tony had first been shot, the dead weight landing on Peter in a suffocating and traumatising way, Peter had freaked. He’d screamed so loud that Steve and Natasha had come running in with terrified expressions. Natasha had killed the superior before he could’ve shot either Tony or Peter again, his body crumpling to the floor.

Steve had commanded that Tony keep his eyes open and Peter had started howling when the man didn’t do as he was told. He’d panicked so much that Natasha had threatened to stun him if he didn’t just get up off the floor and follow them back to the Quinjet right now, dammit.

Peter wasn’t sure why he was so affected by Tony’s pain. All he knew was that the memory of Tony’s body laying lifelessly over his was etched into his brain like a nightmare and the blood that was still staining his clothes and hands made him want to be physically sick.

The nausea kept rolling over him, his stomach doing turns as his head pounded and his throat felt extremely constricted from the crying. All in all, Peter felt absolutely horrible. And he was sure that the only person who could make him feel better was currently being temporarily patched up by a Dr Bruce Banner guy.

Steve had yelled something about going to a ‘Wakanda’ but Peter wasn’t sure if that was a place or a Hospital. He didn’t care enough to ask.

“Peter?” Steve was standing over him, a frown on his face as he looked down on the curled up boy in the corner of the jet. It was moments like these that made Steve realise why Tony had become so attached to Peter. The tears and shaking made the super soldier acutely aware that this kid was just that: a kid.

“Is h-he dead?” Peter’s voice was scratchy and his mouth felt dry. He swallowed down some bile that rose up as he dreaded the answer.

“Tony’s stable,” Steve replied, voice full of concern. “We landed in Wakanda 5 minutes ago; the Princess is tending to him right now.”

In Peter’s turmoil he hadn’t even realised the jet had been landed. He wondered if he should be more concerned about the fact that even with enhanced senses, he’d missed the engines turning off or the slight shudder as it had been set down.

“Let’s get you up and out of here Pete,” Steve’s voice was calming and soothing as he held out a hand for Peter to take. Peter just eyed the hand with distrust. His mind was still doing summersaults, memories still feeling warped and confusing as he tried to shift through them. Peter’s instincts told him that Tony was safe— Tony was home— but nothing calmed him at the thought of trusting this man.

Peter just looked away, bringing his knees impossibly closer. He just felt so lost. All he knew was HYDRA; the octopus skull branding his brain. But then HYDRA had tried to kill him. And some random guy with a goatee who Peter felt some strange devotion to, had saved his life. 

“Pete, come on; you can trust me. I’m going to get you help.”

“I don’t need help,” Peter mumbled, resting his chin on his knees and forcing himself to keep breathing. The closeness of his knees to his chest was reminding him of the way Tony’s body had crushed his own, laying limply over him as if he were already gone.

Flashes of memories infiltrated his mind: rubble and brick was crushing him. Water was dripping down onto his face and he couldn’t stop sobbing. The weight was crushing him and whenever he tried to wiggle out, the weight increased in an attempt to flatten him. He wasn’t strong enough to lift it. He couldn’t do it.

“Come on Spider-Man.”

Peter shook his head, mind coming back to the present. He didn’t know what that memory had been or why he’d been stuck under a building but the sensation had been familiar to when Tony had fallen on him. That feeling of uselessness. 

“Pete,” Steve spoke up again. “We all need help sometimes.”

Peter ignored him again, feeling like a child as he turned his head and tried to wish the man away. He heard as footsteps approached, a woman dressed in red with brown hair floating down past her shoulder suddenly appearing. She didn’t look too old: maybe a few years older than himself. The lady knelt down in front of him, a quizzical look on her face as she studied his features. Something about her was familiar, a name drifting into his mind.

“Wanda . . .”

The lady smiled slightly, her expression telling Peter that he’d gotten it right. She looked back at Steve as if asking for permission. When he sent her a curd nod, she turned back to Peter.

“It’s going to be okay Peter,” her voice was soft as her eyes and hands glowed red. Peter didn’t even flinch as she lifted a red finger to press gently in the spot between his eyebrows. Darkness swallowed him whole, the feeling of comfort to be away from the pain of being awake, making him feel safe.

————————————————

When Peter woke up, he was laying on an uncomfortable slab of metal and dressed in what seemed to be like a hospital gown. The room he was in was large and white with advanced technology and an air of intelligence. Peter swallowed hard, his head no longer pounding and the nausea having disappeared.

“You’re awake,” a voice sounded from the left of him. A girl stood there, hands clasped behind her back with an unreadable expression. She had dark skin and her hair was braided into two buns. There was something friendly about her face despite her intrusive stare and Peter realised that she was probably around the same age as him. “Good.”

Peter struggled to sit up, his muscles aching from the stiffness of the ‘bed’ he’d been laying on. “Your hair is like Princess Leia’s,” the words slipped out before he could stop them. Peter frowned after he said it; he expected himself to question who Princess Leia was but there was no need. He knew who she was. Intergalatic badass Princess who put men in their place.

She reminded him of MJ.

MJ. He knew who she was. And Ned— his best friend was Ned. He remembered lunches where they laughed and movie nights where they put Star Wars on repeat, munching on snacks like no one’s buisness. 

It was like opening the floodgates. All his memories were just . . . back.

“Don’t stress yourself too hard coloniser,” the girl waved a hand. “The brainwashing has been reversed, it might take a while to get used to the return of your memories.”

Peter nodded, closing his eyes and shifting through the dreams and thoughts he’d been without for a year. He remembered May’s smile and the way she used to burn their dinner. He heard her light laugh as the words “Thai?” escaped her lips as the smoke filled the apartment.

He remembered slinging from building to building in his new Stark suit, the feeling of weightlessness filling him with joy. He remembered Happy phoning after news reports of Peter falling from a steep height (he’d gotten distracted by a bird) to yell and tell him to be more careful. He remembered KAREN and her soft voice asking about his Spanish Quiz.

He remembered the Avengers and the way they treated him like family. He remembered Clint’s teasing tone and Rhodey ruffling his hair. He remembered the way Nat’s eyes crinkled as she called him Baby Spider in Russian. 

And he remembered Tony. The way he promised to always be there for Peter, to always protect him. He remembered his laugh and the way he yelled at DUM-E when the bot dosed him in the fire extinguisher foam. He remembered the way his arms encircled him, making Peter feel like nothing could ever be wrong.

But something could be wrong. Tony could be dead. He’d been shot— because of Peter. Because of the monster Peter had become. Whereas all his old memories had come back, the ones from the last year hadn’t gone away. 

Peter could still feel the weight of the gun in his hand as he killed people point blank. He still remembered how little he cared when he stood over grown men’s bodies as they sobbed, clutching their injured body parts as he demanded answers to HYDRA’s questions. He’d done so much bad and Peter didn’t know how he was meant to get over that.

“Who’re you?” He settled on asking the girl in front of him first.

“You can call me Shuri,” she replied with a knowing look. “Do not worry white boy, your father is safe. The bullet didn’t even rupture any vital organs. He’s already walking around and waiting for you to wake up.”

Peter wanted to say that Tony wasn’t his father. He didn’t deserve for Tony to be his father.

“Wait here,” the girl demanded with a stern glare. “I need to alert my brother that you are awake.”

Peter took the opportunity when her back was turned to run away.


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS FINISHED!!!! 
> 
> WOW
> 
> THANK U FOR ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT U GUYS R GREAT
> 
> ENJOY :)))))

Wakanda, Peter realised, was beautiful. He’d been sitting on the ground, staring at the sunset for hours now. After sneaking out of Shuri’s lab and escaping through a window, he’d ignored all the funny looks given to him due to the hospital robe and decided to explore the city. 

Everything about the place was magical. He’d settled down at this spot on the top of a cliff, and he hadn’t taken his eyes off the view since he’d arrived. The place just screamed magical; up high and overlooking the mountains, Peter’s eyes were drawn to the orange glow of the sun as it began to set over the Wakandan earth. The warmth seemed to spread all around, the clouds glowing from the sun’s orange heat. The water shimmered and Peter watched as it sparkled in the light.

It made him feel so peaceful up here. So untouched from the horrors of his past or his mind.

“Thought i might find you here,” Tony’s voice snuck up on him but Peter didn’t flinch. He’d kind of been expecting the man to find him sooner or later.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Peter kept his eyes on the Wakandan sunset.

“Shouldn’t you?” Tony shot back, sitting himself down next to Peter. They weren’t touching but Peter knew all it would take was one tilt to his right and he’d be pressed up on Tony’s side.

They don’t speak for a while, Peter’s guilt and doubts forcing him to only look ahead at the beauty of nature and Tony not knowing what to say or where to start.

He starts with an apology. “I’m so sorry kid.”

“What?” Peter whips his head around to stare at the man with confusion. 

“I’m so sorry about what happened to you. I should’ve found you sooner or assigned you security so you never could’ve been taken. I just want you to know that i never stopped looking for you. Ever.”

“I know,” Peter mumbled, sniffling slightly. “Even when i had no idea who you were or remembered anything about my life, i think i still knew. I would go to bed at night and there was . . . something telling me that i wasn’t alone.”

“But you don’t have to apologise Mr Stark,” Peter sneaked a glance at the man, their eyes meeting for two seconds. “What happened wasn’t your fault.”

“I should’ve—“

“You couldn’t have estimated HYDRA’s actions,” Peter shrugged. “It wasn’t on you.”

“I missed you so much kid,” Tony’s voice sounded choked up and Peter could feel a lump rising in his throat as he tried to not cry.

“I missed you too Mr Stark.”

“Kid, you can call me Tony; we’re there now,” Tony’s arms snaked around Peter’s shoulders bringing him into his embrace. Peter allowed himself to be pulled, trying to tell himself that yes, he did deserve this. He did deserve Tony’s love.

“No stop!” He pulled out of Tony’s embrace, shooting to his feet and staggering back. Who was he kidding? “Why are you acting like any of this is okay?”

“Peter,” Tony rose to his feet as well. “If none of this was my fault as you say, then it sure as hell wasn’t yours either.”

Peter shook his head, tears creeping up into his eyes. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t kill all those people— you didn’t try to shoot me. I was going to kill you Mr Stark!”

“But you didn’t. You realised who you were and you couldn’t do it. Everything that you did Pete, it wasn’t you. It was HYDRA.”

“HYDRA didn’t pull the trigger and kill all those people; i did.”

“HYDRA was the one putting the gun in your hand in the first place,” Tony’s voice was soft, his hand reaching out delicately to grab at Peter but the kid just stepped back.

“I am HYDRA,” Peter whispered, the lump in his throat making him want to choke.

“No,” Tony’s voice was firm as he spoke. There was a fire in his eyes that denied Peter’s words vehemently. “No you are not. You’re Peter Parker— Spider-Man. You’re the kid who can talk for ten minutes at a time without breathing when someone so much as even mentions Star Wars. You’re the kid who has a heart so big he dresses up in spandex each day to protect his neighbourhood. You’re the kid who is so goddamn smart that sometimes even i struggle to keep up with your ideas about updating the Iron Man suits. You’re the best of us all kid.”

Tony took a step forward, pure determination driving him to say these things. He’d never felt so exposed as he bared his soul to this kid but he knew that Peter needed to hear this. He needed to know the truth.

“You’re my kid, Peter. You’re the best thing that has happened to me in decades and— dammit, i hate mushy things. When you were gone for that year, i don’t know how i coped honestly. My life revolved around searching for you. I felt like i’d lost a part of myself: the best part. 

So don’t say that you’re just HYDRA because that’s not true. You are so much more than that. No one is holding anything over your head about what happened— no one blames you. And I’m always going to be here Peter. I’m always going to be on your side.”

Peter wrapped his arms around himself, tears rolling down his cheeks. He let himself sob as he took in Tony’s words. 

“I’ve done so many bad things.”

“Haven’t we all?” Tony takes a step forward, relishing that Peter doesn’t take one back. “What happened was horrible but its over now. HYDRA won’t get you again.”

“How do you know?”

“Because i won’t let them,” Tony was close enough to touch Peter now. Slowly, he lifted his hand to rest on Peter’s shoulder. He didn’t want to push too hard, giving the kid a squeeze as Peter spoke again.

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what Underoos?”

Peter sobbed at the nickname. “Why did you jump in the way of the bullet? It should’ve hit me.”

“Never say that again. Kiddo, didn’t my little spiel explain it to you? I love you. It’s a father’s job to protect his Spider-Baby.”

“You aren’t my dad, Tony,” Peter mumbled as more tears rolled down his face. His eyes were red and puffy by now. The words were like acid as they left his mouth but they needed to be said. Tony needed to know that Peter didn’t deserve him.

“Really? Because i know that you're my kid,” Tony raised his other hand to go into Peter’s hair, brushing the strands away from his tear-stained face. “So i that makes me your dad. I know i want to be.”

“I’m a curse.”

“Don’t say that—“

“But i am! My p-parents first! And then Uncle B-Ben; he died because of me! I yelled at him and i ran away, he chased me down the street when i heard the gun go off and then my Uncle was just b-bleeding out on the street in front of me. I w-watched him die. 

May too. I remember her screaming when the truck hit the car. She died because HYDRA wanted me; she looked so scared when the truck hit her.”

“Kiddo,” Tony sighed. “When my parents died i saw it as my fault too. I never had a great relationship with my dad and i saw his death as a punishment for my bad behaviour and cruel attitude towards him. For years i held that guilt. But it wasn’t my fault any more than any of your families deaths were yours either.”

Tony took a step forward, the hand on Peter’s shoulder wrapping itself around the kid’s back and bringing him into his chest. He kept one hand in Peter’s hair, running his fingers through the curls in a way he’d only done in his dreams for the last year. Peter snuggled his teary face in Tony’s neck, letting out a sigh of contentment as he did so.

“We can be curses together kid. Together, we’ll be invincible.”

Peter curled his fists into the back of Tony’s shirt, holding on tight as if someone was going to try and rip him out of his grip. I’d like to see them try, Tony thought to himself as he rested his forehead on the crown of Peter’s head.

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Peter was barely audible as he mumbled the words into Tony’s neck. “She’s gone and i didn’t even care for a whole year.”

“You didn’t know buddy. But she loved you, no matter what. She loved you.”

“Do you think she’d be proud?”

“I think they’re all proud Peter,” Tony whispered into ear, pressing a kiss to Peter’s temple. The sun had almost set by now, the orange glow depleting and the dark night sky beginning to take over. The warmth of the air was being replaced by the chilly night winds.

“Let’s go back,” Tony suggested as the sun hid behind the mountains and water no longer shone. “You’re missing Clint and Rhodey try to detain a bunch of adolescent HYDRA kids. I think when i left, they’d managed to overpower Legolas.”

Peter let out a wet chuckle as he pulled out of Tony’s embrace, the two of them walking side by side to the Palace. “What’s going to happen to the kids?”

Tony sighed, a hand still wrapped around Peter’s shoulder. “Well, Shuri is slowly but surely erasing all the traces of indoctrination in them but when that’s done, i guess SHIELD will attempt to find the families they’d been stolen from. HYDRA didn’t just take you kid, they went around stealing children left, right and centre.”

Peter nodded, taking it all in. The palace looked beautiful from where they stood. Even in the moonlight it sparkled and made Peter feel like he was living in a Disney movie.

“Shuri seemed cool. She had Princess Leia buns.”

“Ah yes, she mentioned that when she called to say you had woken up. I’m glad you and the Princess got along in the 10 seconds that you spoke to each other,” Tony smirked down at Peter as they waded through the grass towards the Palace steps.

“Shuri is the Princess?” Peter frowned. “Wow, badass.”

Tony let out a chuckle, his grip tightening as he felt extremely blessed. “She said something about tomorrow showing you her favourite vine. Something about a guy yelling about it being ‘Wednesday’?”

Peter let out a loud laugh as they walked through the Palace corridors, Tony guiding him to where they had been kindly given rooms. The floor of the Palace was shiny, the walls a magnificent gold colour. Everywhere Peter looked, he felt like he was living a dream. He waved at a few of the women guards, all of them dressed in red and with spears. 

“I can’t wait,” Peter replies when they reach the room that T’Challa had gifted them during their stay. It was large with a massive double bed. Judging by the tech left laying around, Peter guessed this was Tony’s room. He didn’t fight as the man led him towards the bed, pulling back the covers and letting Peter crawl in.

“Stay. Please.” Peter whispered, a hand shooting out to Tony when he looked like he was about to walk away. Tony brushed back some of Peter’s hair.

“I wasn’t going to go.” He walked around the bed and crawled into the other side, letting Peter shuffle into his embrace once more. After a year of missing this and the past month being a lie, Tony thanked every God in existence that Peter was here now. He was safe and whilst he wasn’t a hundred percent fine, he was alive. 

To Tony, that was good enough.

“Go to sleep kid,” he whispered into the dark. “I’m here. I’m not leaving.”

“Tony,” Peter talked back, voice lowered. “Thank you for looking for me. Thank you for not giving up on me.”

Tony squeezed his eyes closed, wondering how in the hell did he get so lucky to have Peter Parker as his kid. “Always kiddo. You’re my son.”

“I love you,” Peter’s voice was heavy with sleep as he finally closed his eyes and let his exhaustion take him.

“I love you too,” Tony mumbled into the kid’s hair knowing too well that Peter was no longer conscious to hear him. It didn’t matter; after today, not a day would pass that Tony wouldn’t say those words to his kid again.

Tony knew that Peter would always have demons now; he'll always have that devil on his shoulder to remind him of the horrors of his past. HYDRA won't ever really leave Peter alone and Tony knew that they had several months (or years) where nightmares were going to be plaguing the kid on repeat like a broken record that won't shut up. But he knew that Peter would eventually overcome it; the kid was so damn strong it blew Tony's mind just a little. And either way, Tony was going to be there.

He'd be there for every late night where Peter refused to sleep and he'd be there to calm Peter down after he woke up in a cold sweat from the inevitable nightmares. There was no place Tony would rather be.

With the weight of Peter curled up into his side, with Tony being able to feel the rise and fall of his chest, he slowly closed his eyes. Here, in the dark with Peter in his arms, the horrible events of the past year felt like a faded memory. All that mattered was the here and now.

Tony knew they could move on. As long as they had each other.

He'd lost Peter Parker once and he swore to never lose him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank u for all the lovely comments they were the best,,, all my uwu goes out to u guys 
> 
> I hope u enjoyed the journey of this fic i know i did :)))))

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it :))
> 
> more soon!
> 
> pls comment ur love :)


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